Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed objection to the police’s refusal to allow its team to meet former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana while he was in police custody.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the NHRC said its officials were not allowed to meet Rana, who had been kept at the Teku-based office of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office of Nepal Police since Sunday morning.
The NHRC team had reached the office to monitor Rana’s arrest.
“When we talked with the police leadership, they didn’t tell us why the NHRC team was not allowed to conduct monitoring,” the statement issued by NHRC Spokesperson Dr Tikaram Pokharel said.
As per Section 24 (A) of the NHRC Act, 2011, the NHRC can conduct inspections and monitoring of prisons, other agencies of the Government of Nepal, public institutions or private institutions or any other place for the protection of human rights, and to provide necessary suggestions or directives to the agency concerned about the improvement to be made in such agency, institution or place for the protection of human rights.
The NHRC has expressed regret over such attitude by the police, which it said is against the Constitution and legal rights. It also drew the government’s attention to officials obstructing the activities of the NHRC within the ambit of the law.
