Case filed against 17 at Kathmandu District Court

KATHMANDU: A case has been filed against 17 individuals over the controversial lease of 28 ropani and 5 anna of land belonging to Nepal Bal Mandir in Naxal, Kathmandu.

The Kathmandu District Government Attorney’s Office registered the case at the Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had completed its investigation and forwarded the case file to the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, in January. After studying the case file, both the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu and the High Court Government Attorney’s Office, Patan, had decided against pursuing the case. However, the Office of the Attorney General instructed the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, on Sunday to move the case forward.

One of the reasons behind the hesitancy of the prosecuting agency to pursue the case is believed to be the involvement of former Nepal Bal Mandir chairperson Rita Singh Vaidya, who is the sister of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development, and Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh, in the land leasing case.

17 Defendants Named in the Case

1. Rita Singh Vaidya
2. Tulsi Narayan Shrestha
3. Ganesh Bhakta Shrestha
4. Krishna Shankar Shah
5. Shyam Kumar Ale
6. Subas Kumar Pokharel
7. Prachanda Raj Pradhan
8. Ram Kaji Gurung
9. Yogendra Bahadur Shahi
10. Deepak Das Shrestha
11. Prabin Raj Joshi
12. Murari Nidhi Tiwari
13. Purushottam Raj Joshi
14. Shraddha Sanghai
15. Abhinav Singhania (Indian citizen)
16. Siddhartha Kedia (Indian citizen)
17. Kirti Prasad Pandey (Indian citizen)