Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the detention of former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana.
Issuing a press statement, the Supreme Court said its full-court meeting has taken serious note of the incident in which Rana was taken from his residence while he was sleeping, taken to the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office in Teku, kept there for around 10 hours, and then handed back over to his family.
The apex court said Nepal’s constitution has recognized an independent, impartial and competent judiciary as a fundamental value of the democratic system. It added that former chief justices, former judges, serving judges and judicial personnel are integral parts of an independent judiciary.
“Therefore, the conduct of state agencies toward judicial personnel is always a sensitive and serious matter,” the Supreme Court said. “Every Nepali citizen’s right to personal liberty and to live with dignity can be restricted only by following the due process prescribed by law.
The statement said the democratic system cannot accept actions in which arbitrariness prevails because the proper legal procedure has not been followed.
The court further urged all concerned not to portray or communicate any action taken, or to be taken, in the course of administering justice by linking it to any former office-holder. “The full-court meeting would like to assure the public that no external or internal influence of any kind would be given even the slightest space in any activity of the judiciary, including the administration of justice,” it added.
