Verdict out: Sobhraj to stay in jail for life

KATHMANDU: In a historic judgment, Supreme Court today convicted Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj for 1975 murder of a teenage US girl Connie Joe Bronzich.

Following a scoop published in The Himalayan Times on September 17, 2003, disclosing Sobhraj was staying in Kathmandu that eventually led to his arrest from a casino on September 20, 2003.

A division bench of Justices Ram Kumar Prasad Shah and Gauri Dhakal upheld the conviction of 66-year old French national. Upholding the Kathmandu District Court and Patan Appellate Court verdicts, the bench observed that there was no legal loophole in the lower courts’ verdicts and Sobhraj did not deserve acquittal.

The bench has also convicted him in fake passport case and slapped additional sentence of one year. Since he has already served seven years of the sentence, he has to serve almost 13 years more.

Nihita Biswas, who Sobhraj reportedly married in 2008, and her mother Shakuntala Thapa, who had been defending Sobhraj, alleged that the apex court had delivered a biased verdict.

Sobhraj was not present in the court to hear the verdict, as he is suffering from dental ailment, Nihita told The Himalayan Times.

The bench also observed that Sobhraj had killed Canadian national Laurent Armond Carriere in Nepal in 1975 and escaped to Bangkok.

After staying there overnight he returned to Kathmandu to evade police probe. Sobhraj came to Nepal in 1975 on the passport of Henricus Bintanja after killing him in Bangkok, added the bench.

“Despite the police warning not to leave Nepal without informing them he left the country five-six days after the crime via road and was involved in a dacoity in New Delhi,” the bench observed.

The apex court added that Sobhraj’s statement before the Indian judiciary in 80s also proved his offence in Nepal.

Justice Shah, while pronouncing the judgment in a packed courtroom, cited the statement Sobhraj had given before the Supreme Court of India that he had visited Nepal and moved in a white car.

Based on circumstantial evidences— the bag of the deceased found in Sobhraj’s room, his phone number in her note book, modus operandi, his statement to Indian authorities, witness account when Sobhraj visited Nepal in 1975, description of his Nepal activities mentioned in the book, Life and Crimes of Sobhraj, and the report of DSP Chandra Bir Rai — the KDC and PAC slapped 20-year term on Sobhraj.

However, challenging his conviction, Sobhraj moved the apex court in 2006. The government also filed a separate appeal in the apex court challenging the clean chit given to him in fake passport possession case by the both lower courts.

May 2009 decision of the Patan Appellate Court convicting Sobhraj in fake passport case, slapping one-year jail term and Rs 2,000 fine, weakened Sobhraj’s appeal in murder case.

THT Scoop

It was The Himalayan Times that broke the story on Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj’s presence in Kathmandu way back in 2003 that eventually led to his arrest.

On September 17 that year, it published a scoop with Sobhraj’s photograph near a public phone booth in Kathmandu.

Even after that Sobhraj chose to stay on in Kathmandu. On September 19, 2003, he was picked up from Casino Royale, where he was playing baccarat. Sobhraj once famously said laws in Nepal were so lax that he could smuggle a buffalo through Tribhuwan International Airport. These ‘lax laws’ eventually proved to be his nemesis.

Sobhraj saga

• December 23, 1975: Laurent Armond Carrire’s body found in Bhaktapur

• December 24, 1975: Connie Joe Bronzich’s body found near Manahara River in Kathmandu

• September 1, 2003: Sobhraj visited Nepal

• September 17, 2003: The Himalayan Times published a scoop over his stay in Nepal

• September 19, 2003: Police arrested Sobhraj

• August 12, 2004: KDC convicted Sobhraj based on circumstantial evidence

• August 13, 2005: Patan Appellate Court upheld KDC verdict

• January 13, 2009: SC transferred passport case to Patan Appellate Court

• May 12, 2009: Appellate Court convicted him in fake passport case

Can The Serpent still dig out of hole?

KATHMANDU: Sobhraj is now left with an option to request the apex court to review its own judgment, his lawyer Ram Bandhu Sharma told The Himalayan Times. As per Section 11(1)(a) and (b) of the Judicial Administration Act, 1991, the apex court can review its own final judgment on two major grounds — discovering a new evidence which may affect the previous verdict and in case the previous verdict violates the set precedent and principles of the SC. His team is yet to discuss the move with Sobhraj. However, Nihita Biswas, who Sobhraj reportedly married in 2008, and her mother, Shakuntala Thapa, have threatened to move International Court of Justice, accusing the judiciary of bias. Nihita also threatened to file graft case against the SC Justices at the CIAA. Thapa flayed SC for giving legal recognition to the evidence provided by the Indian Supreme Court.