Resham Chaudhary's arrest is not just a legal question, it is a matter connected with democracy, civil rights and accountability of the state apparatus. If this incident is dismissed as a minor incident of the branch officer's whim, tomorrow every citizen will be forced to suffer a fate greater than that of silk.
Former parliamentarian Resham Chaudhary, who went to Pragya Pratishthan to announce the merger between the Janmat Party and Civil Liberties Party representing the federal parliament, was arrested on Wednesday. After it was revealed that the police used the letter of the Supreme Court as the basis for the arrest, Chaudhary was released after five hours, and the branch officer who wrote the letter, Mahimansingh Bista, went to custody.
The manner in which the branch officer of the court issues a warrant and on the basis of that, the police goes to the venue and arrests a citizen, has raised serious questions about the professional capacity of Nepal's justice administration and police.
In August 2072, Chaudhary was convicted in the violent incident in Tikapur and was sentenced to life imprisonment by a three-level court. However, he was released from prison based on the amnesty granted by the government on the occasion of Republic Day on 15th June 2080. While the writ against the amnesty is pending in the Supreme Court, a letter of Vyhora suddenly reached the police saying that "the amnesty given by the President will be reversed, so send him to jail now".
This incident has revealed what kind of intention and mindset people are working in the administration of justice. Bista's style of writing a letter to another body of the state using court documents, letterpads and seals, fixing the judgment of the court in advance, has made the need for moral orientation in the administration of justice.
The unnatural activism of the police to arrest a citizen from a public place and send him to jail on the basis of a whimsical and irrational letter has damaged the trust in the state apparatus. Insisting that such a decision 'will happen' in the future, the police went towards the party's program to arrest Chowdhury without even providing the basic information in the letter of 'request' to send him to jail. A discretion is expected of the police to distinguish whether any court orders or requests the police. But the police have disappointed the citizens.
Similarly, there is a 'Crime Record System' under the Police Headquarters. The details/behavior and nature of the offense and the nature of the offense are captured in the digital system.
The Tikapur case is also a famous scandal. In that incident, Chaudhary was made the planner and the main accused and 58 people were prosecuted. It is the police investigation side in the overall process, which has the obligation to keep a record of where the case is. However, ignoring this background, District Police Complex Kathmandu deployed plainclothes policemen and arrested Chaudhary.
The leaders of the said party have also suspected a political conspiracy regarding the incident which took place shortly before the unification declaration meeting of the parties represented in the federal parliament. There is also a doubt that if the two parties join forces, it may change the arithmetic of power politics, so that they are trying to break the unity by using the branch officer Bista.
As there is a history of such conspiratorial activities in the past within power politics, it is natural that such suspicions arise. If the police had a common understanding of the law, this incident would not have happened. The reality could have been discovered even if there had been a little examination of the nature of the letter from the court and the state of the case. However, even basic responsibilities were not fulfilled. According to the report of
2080/081, only 26 thousand cases are pending in the Supreme Court. Thousands of citizens have been forced to throng the doors of the courts for years, waiting for justice. Likewise, another serious problem is in the implementation of the judgments made by the court. About 32,000 judgments made by various courts have not been implemented. On the one hand, the situation is like this, on the other hand, a letter is drawn up by the court administrator, and soon after that, the police arrest the person and take him to jail on the basis of that letter.
Resham Chaudhary's arrest is not just a legal question, it is a matter connected with democracy, civil rights and accountability of the state apparatus. If this incident is dismissed as a minor incident of the branch officer's whim, tomorrow every citizen will be forced to suffer a fate greater than that of silk.
The way Chaudhary was hurriedly arrested on the basis of a written letter, the unprofessional working style of the Nepal Police has also come to light. How many people have been detained by the police who rush to arrest people without examining the records of any accused and accused? It is necessary to investigate those involved in the incident for the resolution of these questions. It is not possible to exonerate others from this level of serious negligence by placing the blame only on the
branch officer. All those involved in this series should be investigated fairly. Even if this was a purely personal whim, a detailed investigation of the incident would be required to confirm it.
