The Kathmandu District Court has scheduled the next hearing for suspended CPN-UML secretary and former Deputy Prime Minister, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, for Shrawan 18 (August 2), following the completion of testimonies from complainants and witnesses in the fake Bhutanese refugee case. Rayamajhi, who was elected from Arghakhanchi and is currently a suspended member of parliament, has been in pre-trial detention for two years.
According to court information officer Deepak Kumar Shrestha, statements have now been recorded from both the complainants and those who prepared documents related to the case involving fraud, forgery, crimes against the state, and organized crime. One of the witnesses, Premraj Panthi, stated that he only signed the complaint filed at the District Police Office, Teku, and denied involvement in other details.
During cross-examination by defense lawyer Dharmaraj Regmi, Panthi claimed that although he was repeatedly invited by prime accused Sanu Bhandari and Keshav Dulal to a restaurant owned by Tank Gurung, he never saw Rayamajhi or his personal secretary Lila G.C. at those meetings. He also clarified that he only met Sanu Bhandari at the fourth floor of Everest Hotel and did not see Rayamajhi there.
Lawyer Regmi informed that Rayamajhi’s case has been under judicial consideration for the past 29 months. Initially named as an assistant defendant, Rayamajhi was arrested on Baisakh 31, 2080 (May 14, 2023), following an arrest warrant issued by Kathmandu District Police on Baisakh 20. On Asar 1, 2080, Judge Prem Prasad Neupane ordered Rayamajhi to be kept in judicial custody.
Although Rayamajhi appealed for bail at both the High Court and the Supreme Court, the lower court’s decision to keep him in custody was upheld. Meanwhile, other co-defendants in the same case — Nepali Congress leader Bal Krishna Khand, Rayamajhi’s son Sandip Rayamajhi, Angtawa Sherpa, and Govinda Chaudhary — have been released on bail following Supreme Court orders. In a related development, the Patan High Court declared co-defendant Tek Nath Rizal mentally unfit to stand trial.
