Following the district court's decision, the high court also cleared Mahara

Kathmandu: Former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara has also been cleared by the Patan High Court. The High Court has ruled that Mahara is innocent.

Mahara, who is also a leader of the CPN-Maoist Center, was accused of performing Karni by a woman working in the Federal Parliament Secretariat. Mahara, who was arrested from a government residence while he was the Speaker, was acquitted by the Kathmandu District Court in February 2013. Meanwhile, the accused woman even changed her old statement and said that Mahara was innocent.

On Tuesday, the Patan High Court also upheld the decision of the Kathmandu District Court. A bench of Justices Madhav Pokhrel and Vimala Subedi cleared Mahara, Patan High Court said. Mahara had resigned from the post of Speaker after being accused of rape. Mahara was arrested from his official residence on September 3, 2008.