District Court Kathmandu officer Shiva Khatiwada informed that the sentence has been fixed as per the conviction of Rayamajhi for fraud, organized crime, crimes against the state, and conspiracy to commit the same crimes.
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The court has sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister and UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi to four years in prison and former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand to two years in prison for the crime of deceiving Nepali citizens into impersonating Bhutanese refugees and taking them to the US. The Kathmandu District Court has also decided to fine Rayamajhi Rs 40,000 and Khand Rs 20,000.
A bench of Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka on Tuesday sentenced 16 people, including Rayamajhi and Khand. Khadka's bench had convicted them on Asad 23. The sentence was fixed as Rayamajhi was found guilty of fraud, organized crime, and crimes against the state, and Khand was found guilty of the same crimes, informed District Court Information Officer Shiva Khatiwada.
The then Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey has been sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of Rs 40,000. Bhutanese refugee leader Teknath Rijal has been sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of Rs 20,000. Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari and Sagar Rai, who were identified as the main planners of the gang, have been sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of Rs 40,000 each. Rijal, Dulal and Bhandari have been found guilty of forgery, fraud, organized crime and integrated crime. The others have been found guilty except for forgery.
Although separate sentences have been determined for forgery, fraud, organized crime and crime against the state and integrated crime based on the involvement in the crime and its role, the verdict will be implemented according to the sentence and fine imposed on the integrated crime The court has also sentenced middlemen Sandesh Sharma, Govinda Chaudhary, Congress leader and former MP Angtawa Sherpa and then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's security advisor Indrajit Rai to four years in prison and a fine of Rs 40,000 each. Since Rai is a senior citizen above 75 years of age, 75 percent of the prison sentence will be waived, the court's decision states that only the sentence to be served after deducting the period of imprisonment so far will be imposed in his case.
Former Home Minister Khand's personal secretary Narendra KC, then Haj Committee chairman Shamsher Miyan, as well as Haribhakta Maharjan and Niranjan Kumar Kharel have also been sentenced to 1 year in prison and a fine of Rs 10,000 for the integrated offense. Similarly, Bechan Jha has been sentenced to 1 year in prison and a fine of Rs 10,000 for the offense of committing fraud. Although separate sentences have been imposed on the accused for forgery, fraud, organized crime and crimes against the state and the integrated offense based on their involvement in the offense and their roles, the verdict will be implemented according to the prison sentence and fine imposed on the integrated offense, said Attorney General's Office spokesperson Achyutmani Neupane.
In the fake Bhutanese refugee case, a case was filed in the Kathmandu District Court on 10 Jestha 2080 against 30 people including Rayamajhi and Khand, charging them with four offenses of forgery, fraud, organized crime and crimes against the state, demanding Rs 288 million in damages. When the case was filed, 18 people were arrested. On 1 Ashar, the bench of the then District Judge of Kathmandu, Prem Prasad Neupane, released Tanka Gurung on bail of 1 million rupees and Laxmi Maharjan on bail of 5 million rupees and sent the remaining 16 people to jail during the trial. The defendants who were in custody went to the Patan High Court against this, and some of the accused were released on bail and on ordinary dates.
The next year, on 9 Baisakh 2081, two separate supplementary cases were filed in the court against Keshav Dulal, the same gang in the refugee case, and on 29 Shrawan 2081, two separate supplementary cases were filed in the court. Prateek Thapa and Bechan Jha were arrested on 14 Ashar 2081. Although there were 36 accused in all these three cases, the person in the supplementary case, including Dulal, who was made a defendant in the main case, was also a defendant in the main case.
While deciding the case a week ago, the court had decided to convict 16 people, acquit 7 people and postpone the case against 8 people. The cases of the eight people who are currently absconding have been adjourned to be decided according to the law at the time of their arrest. The court had acquitted Sandeep Rayamajhi (son of Top Bahadur Rayamajhi), Ram Sharan KC, Tank Kumar Gurung, Prateek Thapa (son of Ram Bahadur Thapa), Laxmi Maharjan, Keshav Tuladhar and Ashish Budhathoki.
The cases of Ashok Pokharel, Dhiren Rai, Deepa Humagain (wife of Keshav Dulal), Neeraj Rai (son of Indrajit Rai), Rajesh Aryal, Mohanraj Rai, Binita Sawden Limbu and Sunil Budhathoki have been adjourned. The court has not ruled on the amount of compensation claimed. Although the amount of compensation was claimed based on the amount collected by the gang from the victim and the complaint filed with the police, the verdict did not say anything about the compensation.
The court stated that the punishment was determined based on the role and involvement in the fabricated crime. Teknath Rijal, Keshav Prasad Dulal and Sanu Bhandari were found guilty of forgery. Similarly, Dulal, Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Indrajit Rai, Govinda Kumar Chaudhary, Angtawa Sherpa, Teknarayan Pandey and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi were found guilty of fraud and organized crime. Balkrishna Khand, Teknath Rijal, Narendra KC, Shamsher Miya, Haribhakta Maharjan and Niranjan Kumar Kharel were found guilty of fraud and acting as an accomplice in organized crime.
The court had found Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Indrajit Rai, Govinda Chaudhary, Angtawa Sherpa, Teknarayan Pandey and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi guilty of crimes against the state and integrated crimes. Balkrishna Khand, Teknath Rijal, Narendra KC, Shamsher Miya, Haribhakta Maharjan and Niranjan Kumar Kharel were found guilty of crimes against the state. Bechan Jha was found guilty of fraud. The court has determined the punishment for them based on their role and involvement.
In the summary order issued while convicting the defendants, the court stated that the crime of forgery of documents was established as it was found that the fake report had been tampered with and the details of the original report had been changed and a fake identity card had been issued claiming to be a Bhutanese refugee. The court has held that ‘it is evident that the plaintiff committed an organized fraud that directly tarnished the self-respect of Nepali citizens and tarnished the international image of the state of Nepal, and that the plaintiff committed an offense against the state as charged by the Government of Nepal’.
The court has held that fraud, forgery of government documents, organized crime, and offense against the state were committed in a single incident, and that the offense was also confirmed.
The incident of Nepali citizens being taken to the US as fake Bhutanese refugees was first revealed by Kantipur on 31 Jestha 2079. After that, the investigation progressed and the case reached the court after about a year. After the news of the refugee case came out, the police, which had initiated the investigation, arrested the mastermind of the gang, Keshav Dulal, on 12 Chaitra 2079.
The case was transferred to another bench after Justices Janak Pandey and Prakash Kharel differed on whether to uphold the district court's order to send former Home Minister Khand to pre-trial detention or release him on bail. On 28 Mangsir 2080, a single bench of Justice Krishnaram Koirala ordered Khand to be released on bail of 3 million rupees. The district court's order to send former Deputy Prime Minister Rayamajhi and other defendants to remand was upheld.
Khand was released on bail by a higher court order. After the order to send former Deputy Prime Minister Rayamajhi to remand was also issued by the higher court, the remaining defendants, including former Deputy Prime Minister Rayamajhi, approached the Supreme Court with an appeal. On 13 Baisakh 2081, a bench of Supreme Court Justices Kumar Regmi and Tek Prasad Dhungana ordered Angtawa Sherpa and Govinda Chaudhary to be released on bail and Miya to be remanded in custody on a regular date, and 7 others, including Rayamajhi, Pandey, Bhandari, Dulal, Sandesh, Indrajit and Sagar Rai, have become participants in the proceedings against the state.
The district court's decision has made high-ranking officials involved in crimes against the state a party to the proceedings. But both the plaintiff Nepal government and the defendant can appeal to the High Court against the verdict of the first court. The government can go to the High Court demanding punishment as per the original claim, arguing that the defendants were not punished as per the claim. Similarly, the defendants can also go to the High Court demanding that the verdict be quashed and acquitted. Neupane, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office, said that a decision on the appeal will be taken after studying the full text of the verdict.
