Nepal’s apex court trashed Bhattarai government’s decision to compensate disqualified combatants

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court ( SC) has scrapped the decision of the previous government to provide financial assistance of Rs. 200,000 each to the Maoist former combatants verified as minors and late recruits by the then United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).

A division bench of justice Ram Kumar Prasad Shah and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki on Friday scrapped the September 2012 directives issued by the government for distributing financial assistance to the Maoist former combatants from the state coffers through a certiorari order.

The court verdict states that the government directives on financial assistance to the former Maoist combatants and decision to approve it was against the constitutional provisions and thereby it is scrapped with the certiorari order.

Besides, the court has issued an interim order in the name of the government, directing it not to dole out financial assistance from the state coffer, going against the law.

With this apex court decision, Rs. 600 million including other administrative expenses needed for the assistance distribution will be saved.

If the decision was implemented, Rs 600 million had to be paid from the state coffer to 3,000 verified Maoist combatants.

Advocates Bishwas Acharya, Bimala Bartaula and Radha Sigdel had filed a writ petition at the SC, demanding the scrapping of the government’s September 2012 decision.

They claimed that such decision taken for the interests of party cadres and supporters is an ‘arbitrary one’ and an ‘example of corruption’. 

The petition had named the then Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai and Council of Ministers and the ministries of home affairs, and peace and reconstruction as the defendants.