KATHMANDU: In a significant development, the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered an investigation into the involvement of former Prime Ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai in the land embezzlement case of Lalita Niwas.

The court’s order comes after an investigation was initiated into the decision of the Council of Ministers regarding the transfer of government land to individuals in the Lalita Niwas case.

The Supreme Court expressed concern that the ongoing investigation has focused solely on employees at the assigned level of work and those who purchased the land while neglecting to include those who made decisions or were part of the decision-making process. This omission raised questions about the public’s trust in the justice system.

A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Anil Kumar Sinha and Kumar Chundal issued the order on Sunday during the hearing of Yograj Paudel’s custody writ.

The court’s directive specifies that the investigation should promptly include individuals directly involved in the implementation level. This includes verifying decisions and actions of the Nepal Government Council of Ministers regarding the transfer of Lalita Niwas land to individuals on various dates.

SC mentioned that investigation must cover individuals who proposed the decision at the ministry level or higher-level officials involved in the proposal.