On Wednesday, Nepal’s Supreme Court announced that the government’s decision to release politician Resham Chaudhary from jail was legal.
On Tuesday, the court rejected a case from Sharada Kadayat, the widow of a police officer killed during the violence in Tikapur in 2015. She asked the court to cancel Chaudhary’s pardon so he could be sent back to prison.
In 2015, Chaudhary was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the clashes between local people and security forces in Tikapur, which resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and a child.
The release followed a Presidential Order from then-President Ramchandra Paudel, who decided to pardon him in May of this year based on a recommendation from the government. The Supreme Court also highlighted that “the President has the legal power to pardon prisoners” as stated in Nepal’s Constitution.