Govt told to produce Secretary Raut before court within 24 hours

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has ordered the government to produce Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, who is in police custody for investigation into the Lalita Niwas land grab scam, before the court within 24 hours.

A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the order on Thursday, hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Usha Karki.

Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Raut from Tribhuvan International Airport on July 9 while he was about to leave for Biratnagar.

The court has asked the defendants to furnish a written reply through the Office of the Attorney General within 24 hours why the writ of habeas corpus shouldn’t be issued as demanded by the petitioners.