Amnesty to criminals turns the state as protector to perpetrators
The Supreme Court has come down heavily on the government for granting amnesty to the convicts in criminal cases warning that such acts will make state the protector of criminals.
In the full text of its verdict regarding the amnesty granted to Resham Chaudhary, a murder convict in the Tikapur Carnage, the SC termed the incident as a heinous criminal offence and said giving it a political cover for amnesty by the government was not right.
It further ruled that criminal law violations – brutal murder of eight people including the then Senior Superintendent of Nepal Police and a toddler- cannot be viewed as a political case.
The verdict said there was sufficient evidence that the incident was pre- planned and those perpetrating it were in possession of lethal arms and weapons.
The act of withdrawing the criminal cases and granting amnesty in such cases under the political coverage is against the constitutional and judicial values, reads the full text.
The SC on Wednesday released the full text of its 16th May verdict that had upheld the decision of Deepayal High Court which convicted Resham Chaudhary for Tikapur carnage and awarded him a life sentence.
Chaudhary had gone for an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Deepayal High Court that had declared Chaudhary and seven others guilty in the Tikapur carnage in which eight people including a senior police officer and an infant had been killed by the mob.
The division bench of the Supreme Court that gave the verdict in May consisted of justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Nahakul Subedi had upheld the High Court verdict.
Chaudhary, founder of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, was released from the Dillibazar Jail on May 28 soon after the verdict with President Ram Chandra Poudel complying instantly with the recommendation of the cabinet for amnesty to Chaudhary on the ground of ‘good conduct’.