Kathmandu — Nepal’s Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on a petition filed by former minister Rajkumar Gupta, who is currently in judicial custody in connection with the Lichibari land corruption case.
The petition has been listed before a joint bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Nityananda Pandey. Gupta approached the Supreme Court seeking to overturn an earlier order by the Special Court that remanded him to custody pending trial.
The Special Court had ordered Gupta’s detention in the corruption case related to land transactions in Lichibari, Pokhara. The order was issued by a bench comprising Chairperson Sudarshan Dev Bhatt and Judges Dilliratna Shrestha and Bidur Koirala.
According to investigators, Gupta allegedly accepted NPR 5.3 million from a real estate entrepreneur, promising to prevent the transfer of the chief official at the Land Revenue Office in Kaski and to facilitate an appointment to the Land Commission. A corruption case was subsequently filed at the Special Court based on these allegations.
Separately, Nepal’s Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has accused Gupta and former minister Ranjita Shrestha of colluding to misuse their official positions in exchange for NPR 2.5 million in bribes to provide administrative favors.
During his court statement, Gupta denied the allegations, maintaining that he did not accept any bribe and that the accusations against him are false. However, the Special Court ruled that the available preliminary evidence was sufficient to justify detention pending further proceedings.
The Supreme Court’s upcoming hearing will determine whether the Special Court’s remand order will be upheld or overturned, a decision that may influence the legal course of the Lichibari land corruption case.
