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Ranjan Koirala verdict: Suspended CJ Rana says he regrets cutting the sentence short

Former Armed Police Force DIG Ranjan Koirala is released from Dillibajaar Jail, on Thursday, July 23, 2020.
Former Armed Police Force DIG Ranjan Koirala is released from Dillibajaar Jail, on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Kathmandu, September 4

Suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana says he regrets his order of cutting the sentence short in relation to former Armed Police Force official Ranjan Koirala.

In response to a question of lawmakers in connection with his impeachment proposal, Rana accepted on Sunday that the 2020 order was not right.

Though the Kathmandu District Court had handed down a 20-year jail sentence to Koirala, convicting him of murdering his wife, and the then Appellate Court had upheld it, the Supreme Court had cut short the sentence to eight and a half years in response to an appeal filed by the convict. The apex court division bench comprising Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Ranan and Justice Tej Bahadur KC had argued that he should be released to take care of his children.

The apex court, after Rana’s suspension, overturned the verdict in May, making the government jail him again.

“I made a mistake in using my discretion [in the Ranjan Koirala case]. I apologise to the people for this. I regret this decision,” Rana said.

The impeachment committee on Sunday asked five questions to Rana. The next meeting has been called for next Sunday.

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