Kathmandu, 27 September (H.S.): Former Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court Cholendra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana was arrested by police on Sunday. A team from the Kathmandu Crime Branch took him into custody from his residence in Maharajgunj on Sunday morning.

Rana was reportedly arrested after a complaint was filed against him with the Kathmandu Crime Branch. However, the police have not yet made public details of the complaint or the allegations against him. Police officials said that the complete details would be disclosed shortly.

Rana became Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court on January 2, 2019. He was automatically suspended under constitutional provisions after impeachment proceedings were initiated against him in Parliament on February 13, 2022. The case against him remained pending before the Supreme Court for an extended period.

Recently, the Supreme Court ordered the release of his pension and all other payments due to him following his retirement, citing the fact that the impeachment proceedings against him had not been completed.

The Constitutional Bench led by Rana had rejected then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve Parliament. At the same time, the bench ordered the appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba, the leader of the alliance formed by the Nepali Congress and the Maoist party against Oli, as Prime Minister.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar