Nepal's judiciary and police leadership spent Thursday, October 29, issuing statement after statement after both were engulfed by the case of Inam Sapkota, a detained man described in Nepali media reports as an alleged fixer or middleman. Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma denied any contact with Sapkota, a sitting Supreme Court justice acknowledged exchanging WhatsApp messages with him while accusing him of pressuring judges, Nepal Police headquarters denied reports that pressure was mounting on police chief Dan Bahadur Karki to resign, and the Nepal Bar Association demanded an impartial investigation. All of the underlying claims against individual officials remain allegations that have not been proven.

Source: Ratopati (via Hamro Patro)

What Justice Phuyal said

Supreme Court Justice Hari Phuyal has acknowledged exchanging WhatsApp messages with Sapkota after Sapkota introduced himself as a special representative of Prime Minister Balendra Shah, OnlineKhabar reported on Thursday. Leaked messages first published by Naya Patrika on Thursday and reported by the Kathmandu Post purportedly show Sapkota sending Phuyal a screenshot of a habeas corpus petition filed by businessman Rohit Gupta and urging him to stop or dismiss it because, Sapkota wrote, the Prime Minister was also interested in the matter. In the reported exchange, Phuyal replied that he had seen it late, that there were grounds to release Gupta, and that bail of Rs 2 crore had been sought, and he proposed meeting at Hotel Himalaya the next day.

Source: Nepal Wire (OnlineKhabar / Kathmandu Post reporting)

Speaking to reporters at his chamber on Thursday, Phuyal said Sapkota later met him and five to seven other justices as a group at Hotel Himalaya and warned they could face impeachment, and afterwards sought favourable treatment in cases involving the Nepali Congress, detained businessman Deepak Bhatta and former Insurance Authority chairperson Sharad Ojha, OnlineKhabar reported. Phuyal said the judges reported Sapkota to Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki and later to Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, who denied any army connection to him. Phuyal said Sapkota claimed he had made Sharma chief justice and used to threaten judges and send messages about various cases; Phuyal said he himself filed a complaint after realising what was happening, and denied any financial, moral or ethical deviation or any settlement with Sapkota, Ratopati reported.

The denials: Chief Justice, Justice Paudel and MP Pokharel

Chief Justice Sharma signed a statement on Thursday afternoon denying any “direct or indirect contact or acquaintance” with Sapkota and saying he has no involvement with the individuals or context mentioned in the news. He also noted that on the dates mentioned in the news reports — November, December and January — he had not even become chief justice, Ratopati reported.

Source: Ratopati (via Hamro Patro)

Justice Shree Kant Paudel, who sat on the bench in the Gupta matter, said in his own statement on Thursday that the order rested on the facts, evidence and law in the case file, and that apart from discussions in open court he had no personal meetings or communication of any kind, including phone calls, with the parties or the individuals named in the news, before or after the order. Lawmaker Bishwaraj Pokharel, a former police AIG, said he has no acquaintance, phone contact or relationship with Sapkota, and called the allegations linking his name to a middleman and to financial transactions baseless, misleading and fabricated, reserving his right to legal remedies, Ratopati reported.

Police headquarters hits back

Reports had claimed in recent days that the government had sought IGP Karki's resignation because of alleged WhatsApp contact with Sapkota, and that Prime Minister Shah's secretariat was preparing to dismiss him if he did not resign. Nepal Police headquarters rejected those reports in a press release on Thursday, stating there was no truth to news and commentary saying pressure had increased on Karki to resign, and warning that it would proceed with investigation and legal action under existing laws against those spreading misinformation, Ratopati reported.

Source: Ratopati (via Hamro Patro)

Karki also convened an emergency meeting of the Police Coordination Committee (PCC) on Thursday, summoning the Deputy Inspectors General of all seven provinces to police headquarters at Naxal, Kathmandu, Banking News and Nmkhabar reported. A senior official present told Ratopati the four-hour meeting discussed mainly two subjects — the leaking of information from the Sapkota investigation and what the force calls propaganda against the IGP — and decided to collectively counter it. The District Police Range, Kathmandu, which is investigating Sapkota, separately said on Thursday that investigation matters must remain confidential and that it has not provided sensitive details, evidence or information to any individual or party.

Bar demands an impartial probe

The Nepal Bar Association said in a press release on Thursday that the alleged conversations and meetings between Supreme Court justices and individuals connected to controversial cases were a matter of serious concern, and demanded an impartial, independent and timely investigation whose facts are made public, with action under the law regardless of position or status if any unlawful act is proven. The Bar stressed that the allegations in the news cannot be taken as final truth or proof of guilt, and that everyone is entitled to a fair investigation and a chance to present their side. Bar president Bijaya Mishra, speaking to OnlineKhabar, also cautioned that releasing investigation information selectively could serve competing interests rather than strengthen public confidence, and called for a transparent process.

Source: Nica News (Kathmandu Post / Onlinekhabar reporting)

Who is Inam Sapkota?

Sapkota, 30, is in the custody of the Kathmandu District Police Range, with courts extending his remand, and is under investigation for money laundering after a search of his phone turned up contacts with judges, police officers and politicians, the Kathmandu Post and OnlineKhabar reported. Reports differ on when he was first detained at Tribhuvan International Airport — the Post reported he was arrested on September 27 while preparing to fly to Delhi, while Ratopati reported he was taken into custody at the airport on October 14 after his alleged connections with former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and businessman Deepak Bhatta surfaced. A special police committee led by Superintendent of Police Narahari Regmi was formed in early October to support the investigation. Investigators are examining whether Sapkota acted as an intermediary for people seeking favourable outcomes in court cases; no court has made any finding against him or against any official named in the reporting.

What happens next

A full court meeting of all Supreme Court justices was scheduled for Friday, October 30, with “contemporary issues” on the agenda, OnlineKhabar reported. None of the reporting reviewed carried a response from Prime Minister Shah's office to Phuyal's account that Sapkota invoked the Prime Minister's name and presented himself as the Prime Minister's special representative. The police investigation into Sapkota continues, and the Bar's demand for an impartial probe whose findings are made public is now on record.