Biratnagar: The Biratnagar High Court has quashed a controversial order issued by the Sunsari District Court to release an Indian national on bail.
A joint bench of Chief Justice Til Prasad Shrestha and Justice Kiran Devi Gupta quashed the Sunsari court's order and remanded the accused in custody for trial, said Omraj Subedi, Information Officer, Biratnagar High Court. According to him, the High Court on Monday issued an order in the name of the Sunsari court to keep the defendant Aniruddha Sharma alias Aniruddha in custody.
"As the district order to release the defendant on bail has not been complied with, the order should be overturned and the defendant should be remanded in custody based on the evidence attached to the missile," the order said. A bench of Sunsari Court Judge Hem Bahadur Sen had on June 29 ordered to release Sharma, a resident of Arapat Narpatgunj, on bail of Rs 60,000.
Legal experts had strongly protested against the court order giving the accused a chance to destroy the evidence. Senior Advocate Suresh Lal Shrestha said that according to Article 67 (2) (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 2074 BS, there is a legal provision to keep a foreign accused (foreign national) in custody for trial for one year or more. According to him, if the foreign accused does not have a permanent residence in Nepal and is not detained, there is no possibility of fleeing and later being arrested, so according to the legal provisions, the accused has to be sent to jail for trial.
Police had arrested Sharma and filed a case against him under the Citizenship Act after it was revealed that he had obtained Nepali citizenship from Duhabi-6 of Sunsari on January 22, 2008, by submitting false details. Article 21 of the Citizenship Act 2063 states that a foreign national who obtains Nepali citizenship by submitting false details will be imprisoned for one to five years or fined from Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000.
Judge Sen was dragged into the controversy after a court ruled that sensitive issues such as citizenship related to nationality were normal and released the accused on bail. According to sources, the Biratnagar High Court has expressed interest in the district's order.
The High Public Prosecutor's Office had filed a petition in the Biratnagar High Court under Section 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, alleging that the accused should have been sent to jail despite sufficient evidence. This article opens the door to appeal to the upper court if you are not satisfied with the lower court's order. Senior Advocate Shrestha also said that the court would issue such an order considering the issue of citizenship as normal and would force foreigners to get Nepali citizenship by submitting false details in the coming days. According to him, if the court is not sensitive on the issue of citizenship, the danger of setting a wrong precedent may increase.
Police had filed a case against Sharma under the Citizenship Act after the citizenship distribution team found evidence that Sharma had obtained Nepali citizenship number 033009/325 based on his birth certificate on January 22, 2008.
After acquiring Nepali citizenship, Sharma was living with his family at Chandni Chowk, Biratnagar Metropolitan City-5. He was arrested from Biratnagar on April 4. The Nepali citizenship he got is signed by Punya Raj Bhattarai, the head of the distribution team.
Sharma has an Indian voter ID card numbered SPJ 0239335. There is a rule that a foreign national who wants to become a Nepali citizen must renounce the citizenship of his country before that. However, locals said that Sharma, who was included in the new voter list made public by the Election Commission of India on February 15, moved to Biratnagar from Duhabi after the polls for Nepali citizenship were opened.
According to the police, Sharma, who entered Nepal from India in 2050 BS, had been claiming that he was born in Nepal. The police investigation did not find any evidence that he was born in Nepal.
Due to the non-cooperation of the Sunsari administration, those who recommended and identified Sharma to get Nepali citizenship have not been able to come under the scope of action. Police had repeatedly sent letters requesting the administration to provide the documents including the schedule form that Sharma had filled in while getting citizenship. All the details of recommendation and identification for citizenship and granting of citizenship are clearly disclosed in the schedule.
Those who identify or recommend citizenship to foreign nationals based on false details are liable to imprisonment for six months to three years or a fine of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000. However, a police source said that there was a problem when the administration did not cooperate in such a way as to affect the investigation.
