Bam to face impeachment

KATHMANDU, Dec 14: Biratnagar Appellate Court Judge Hari Bahadur Basnet, whom a high-level probe committee has accused of ´dishonesty´ and ´non-transparency´ in his rulings to release some notorious culprits, resigned on Monday.

The resignation will pave the way for the Judicial Council (JC) to take action against two other accused judges as recommended by the high-level committee headed by Supreme Court (SC) Justice Bala Ram KC.

According to a highly placed source at the SC, Basnet handed his resignation paper to SC Registrar Dr Ram Krisana Timelsena Monday evening.

Basnet´s resignation comes at a time when implementation of the probe committee´s report was in question following severe differences between Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha and Minister for Law and Justice Prem Bahadur Singh.

Interestingly, Basnet is tight-lipped in his resignation letter regarding the probe committee´s charges against him. He has cited another reason for his resignation.

"I am unable to perform my official responsibilities due to my deteriorating health condition. Doctors have advised me not to continue in my duty in view of my poor health and I have therefore decided to resign from my post," reads Basnet´s resignation letter.

Basnet has also said in the letter that he is retiring after two weeks.

"Basnet´s resignation has paved the way for taking action against SC Justice Rana Bahadur Bam and another appellate court judge, Tej Bahadur Karki, as the same accusations were leveled against all three," the source told Republica.

Although Basnet has cited health reasons, his decision to resign on Monday comes after Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha and other JC members including seniormost SC Justice Kheel Raj Regmee asked him to step down before any possible action is taken against thim, the source added.

JC, the body authorized to take action against judges, is holding a third round meeting on Tuesday to decide the fate of the three judges accused by the probe committee.

The probe had found Justice Bam and Judges Basnet and Karki guilty of releasing notorious culprits Sanjay Shrestha, Rohit Paliwan Agrawal and Bhimsen Pandit, who were arrested for kidnap, murder and possessing arms and ammunition, on very low bail instead of sending them into custody as required by existing law.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Shrestha has informed SC justices that they have found SC Justice Bam to be in possession of 90 tola of gold. "We are not going to take action against Justice Bam and Judges Basnet and Karki out of any bias. The JC is taking action against them on the basis of the findings of the probe committee and other supportive evidence. We have found 90 tola of gold to be in possession of Justice Bam. What is the source of that gold?" the source quoted CJ Shrestha as saying in his chambers while briefing other SC justices.

According to the source, an informal meeting of four members of the JC held at CJ Shrestha´s chambers on Monday agreed to take action against SC Justice Bam and Appellate Court Judges Basnet and Karki.

"They decided to recommend parliament to impeach Justice Bam and to fire Judges Basnet and Karki at Tuesday´s JC meeting," a knowledgeable source informed Republica.

The source doubts that the JC meeting can waive action against Judge Basnet just because he has already resigned from his post. "Tainted judges must be punished. They should not be protected under the pretext of resignation," added another source.

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