Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has ordered the release of Nepal Investment Mega Bank (NIMB) CEO Jyoti Prakash Pandey.
A division bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Shanti Singh Thapa issued the order on Thursday, hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Pandey’s spouse, Niru Dahal.
“A writ of habeas corpus has been issued, ordering that the detainee, Jyoti Prakash Pandey, be released from custody on personal in the presence of a senior advocate chosen by him, on condition that he shall only leave the country with the prior permission of the court and that he shall appear, or be presented, whenever required for criminal investigation under Section 15 of the National Criminal Procedure Code, 2017,” the bench said in its order.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Pandey on Wednesday on charges related to fraud and criminal breach of trust. The Kathmandu District Court had earlier granted permission to keep him in custody for three days for investigation.
The CIB said Pandey was arrested for illegally auctioning Smart Telecom’s assets with the “dishonest intention of depriving the government of its rightful claim, amounting to fraud and criminal breach of trust.”
The bank had auctioned assets pledged by Smart Telecom to recover its loans in September last year. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the telecommunication sector regulator, had seized control of Smart Telecom in April 2023 as per Rule 18 of the Asset Management Rules for Telecommunications Service Providers Whose Licenses are Not Active, 2022
The CIB had arrested Pandey, alleging that loans were recovered by auctioning off Smart Telecom Pvt Ltd, which had already come under government ownership.
Nepal Bankers’ Association, the umbrella body of 20 commercial banks, had opposed Pandey’s arrest, claiming that arresting a banker over the auction process was not in accordance with the law.
