SC Justice Bam denied cases

KATHMANDU, Nov 30: Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha has mounted pressure on Supreme Court (SC) Justice Rana Bahadur Bam, who has been accused of releasing culprits, arrested many times on serious charges, on low fine, to resign.

On Monday, though Bam was present at the SC, the CJ didn´t assign him any bench.
Bam, talking to Republica, said that he himself was not interested in taking up any cases following the probe committee´s report, on his and other judges involvement, submitted to the Judicial Council last week.

"I didn´t feel inclined to handle any cases after the report of probe committee," Bam said, adding, "I may not even come to the court from Tuesday. I won´t handle cases until the disputes involving me are settled even if I continue to come to the court." Bam further claimed that he was put into injustice.

"Chief Justice Shrestha didn´t assign him any responsibility following a pressure from various quarters," said a high ranking source at the SC, adding: "Perhaps, the CJ was apprehensive about being dragged into the controversy on the charge of protecting a guilty judge."

In the mean time CJ Shrestha has called a meeting of Judicial Council on Friday. According to sources, JC meeting could recommend the parliament to impeach Justice Bam, if he doesn´t resign by Friday.

Talking to Republica last Friday, Chief Justice Shrestha had said that he would implement the probe committee report at the earliest. As per the provisions of interim constitution, even the JC, the only body authorized to take action against judges, cannot take any action against a permanent SC justice.

A probe committee headed by SC justice Bal Ram KC had found Bam and two other judges ´incompetent´ and ´dishonest´ for passing out verdicts releasing notorious culprits on very low fine.

* CJ mounts pressure on Bam to resign
* I am not keen to take up cases: Bam
* I won´t take up cases until the dispute is settled: Bam

Sanjay Shrestha, Rohit Paliwan Agrawal and Bhimsen Pandit, who were arrested on charges of possessing arms and ammunition, were released following a controversial orders issued by Bam and another judge Hari Bahadur Basnet. Shrestha, Agrawal and Pandit have also been accused of kidnapping Dr Bhaktaman Shrestha a few months ago.

KC-led probe committee has concluded that the division bench of Justices Bam and Basnet, the former in his capacity as chief judge at Patan Appellate Court, had released the three on Rs 100,000 fine, overruling the Kathmandu District Administration Office which had sent them to three years jail and slapped Rs 22,000 fine on each for possessing arms and ammunition.

Bam, however, defended that an order to release offenders on fine was not a serious mistake. "Even if it was a mistake, it was a minor one. And you will find many such mistakes committed by several judges," Bam told Republica.

The KC-led committee has also found Biratnagar Appellate Court Judge Hari Bahadur Basnet and Hetauda Appellate Court Judge Tej Bahadur Karki guilty for their controversial decisions to release notorious offenders on many occasions.

The three were once arrested on kidnap charges, but a single bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Karki released them on bail even when they had confessed to the police that they were involved in kidnapping and possession of arms and ammunition.

The JC had initiated investigations against Justices Bam, Basnet and Karki following the arrest of Shrestha, Agrawal and Pandit on the charge of kidnapping Dr Shrestha. The three have claimed that they had bribed the judges many times in the past.

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