Kathmandu Nepal: Maoist Lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel who was convicted first degree of murder by the lower court and later recognized by the Supreme Court has been pleaded pardon for murder by the current government of Nepal to president Dr. Ram Baran Yadav. Dhungel has been life sentenced with property attachment for the murder of Ujjan Shrestha of Okhaldhunga by judicial system denying and challenging the verdict and have been roaming freely and attending the Constitution Assembly openly with no hesitation. Apart from that in a re-application of the verdict of the lower court the Supreme Court ruled in with the judgment of the lower court on Dhungel in 2010, the verdict has not been implemented till date.
According to sources and records Ujjan was killed on 24 June 1998 at Ghodi Danda Bazar with a bullet that killed him on the spot and his body was thrown in Koshi River which was confirmed by prime witnesses. From the past 13 years his family has been suffering the ordeal of pain of not even having his body being recovered as well as adding fury to it with the culprit being recognized by the judicial system as guilty and waiting for justice to be performed.
Recently with the plea of pardon of the death sentence, the government of Nepal and its cabinet minister approached the president of Nepal for the plea. In accordance to the case involving Dhungel’s case is not a political one; it is a case of murder on account of personal animosity which has been proved and recognized. Apart from that Dhungel was representing Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) as a lawmaker in the constitution during the verdict and the current government is being bias toward the issue of judicial implementation.
According to the Nepal Bar Association, “Dhungel has been convicted of the murder and the legal system has slapped him with the judgment. The political infiltration in Dhungel case certainly seems government move as it encourages impunity. The government needs to respect the judiciary and its verdicts accordingly. It is a mockery of the legal system where Dhungel continued to roam free despite the life term on him. NBA is ready to take to the street if it comes to that for stopping the pardon for Dhungel.”
Similarly the different human right organizations have condemned the government move to request for pardon in Dhungel case.
A question has been raise against the current government’s act and its intention of the legal system and its verdict where politics is getting high over judiciary. Judiciary and judicial system is considered as an autonomous body all over the world and its practice and verdicts are regarded as a voice of legality in support of rule of law. Now in Nepal the current government’s act of challenging the verdict of the legal system certainly shows the rule of law in Nepal how much power politics rules in. It’s high time when Nepal needs change and is on move of development but acts like these certainly hold back the respect and ideologies of a good political practice and morals where even legal system is being challenged.
