Rayamajhi commission grills four including ex-CJ, ex-Speaker

The high-level judicial investigation committee interrogated four persons including former Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharama and former Speaker Taranath Ranabhat in connection with their alleged role against people’s movement-II on Monday.

Emerging out of the interrogation at the commission’s office at Harihar Bhawan, Lalitpur, former CJ Sharma said he didn’t have any role in suppressing the people’s movement and accused the media of dragging him into controversy. “Is a Chief Justice a gun-carrying person who could suppress the movement? Why journalists don’t understand this?”

During the King’s direct rule, political parties and the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) had protested Sharma’s role in favour of a number of decisions of the then government.

This is perhaps the first time in Nepalese history that a former Chief Justice has been interrogated by a probe commission.

Likewise, Ranabhat said he did not support the active rule of the King and said that the King and the cabinet chaired by him should take responsibility for whatever happened during the people’s movement.

“I am somebody who turned down the offer of prime minister’s post. I had been advocating for return of the King’s power to the people and I never supported the February 1 move,” he said.

Former regional administrators Mrigendra Singh Yadav and Ganesh Sherchan also recorded their statement at the commission.

Sherchan denied any role against the people’s movement but said he was ready to face sentence if found guilty by the commission. Yadav refused to talks to the media.

Meanwhile, the commission has summoned eight former zonal administrators - Ramji Bista, Dr Shayam Kishor Singh, Janak Jungali, Kumar Bahadur Karki, Rana Bahadur Chand, Lalit Bahadur Thapa Magar, Min Bahadur Pal and Mahendra Man Byathit – for interrogation on Wednesday.

The probe commission, which is headed former Supreme Court Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi, has already interrogated over four dozen functionaries of the royal regime for their alleged role in brutal clampdown on the pro-democracy movement in April this year in which at least 21 agitators were killed and over 4000 others injured.