Nepal's ex-chief justice arrested days after impeachment petition dismissed

Former Nepal chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana was arrested in Kathmandu after a complaint was filed against him. The case renews attention on his suspended tenure, pending impeachment proceedings and recent pension order.

Cholendra Shumsher Rana, a former chief justice of Nepal, was arrested on Sunday after a complaint was lodged against him with the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office.

A team of the specialised investigative unit took him into custody from his residence in Kathmandu. The police did not publicly disclose details of the complaint or the allegations in the immediate aftermath of the arrest.

Officials said the former judge was brought in for necessary investigation and that more information about the case would be made public soon.

WHO IS CHOLENDRA SHUMSHER RANA?

Rana became the Chief Justice of Nepal's Supreme Court on January 2, 2019. He was automatically suspended under constitutional provisions on February 13, 2022, after Parliament initiated impeachment proceedings against him.

A case against Rana remained pending before the Supreme Court for a prolonged period.

Recently, the court ordered the release of his pension and all other retirement-related payments, citing the fact that the impeachment proceedings against him had not been completed.

Rana had also headed the constitutional bench that rejected then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's decision to dissolve Parliament.

At the time, the bench also ordered the appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba, who led an alliance of the Nepali Congress and the Maoists against Oli, as prime minister.

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