Nepal’s Revenue Investigation Department on Friday carried out multiple raids on private companies in Kathmandu, including the law firm of noted lawyer and democracy activist, Sambhu Thapa.
Thapa accused the bureau of carrying out a “witch-hunt” and said he was being targeted because of his opposition to the appointment of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi as head of government and of Lokman Singh Karki to the Centre for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The Department’s Khumraj Punjali said the raids were conducted because of suspicions of tax evasion. Thapa has been asked to appear before the Department next week.
“This is a politically motivated attempt to harass me,” Thapa said. As the raids were taking place, the Nepal Bar Association was at a meeting to decide on a protest campaign against the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday to scrap 17 writs, including those against the appointment of the Chief Justice as prime minister.
The writs were scrapped without hearings by Justices Wasti and Tarka Raj Bhatt. The Bar Association said the decision went against the doctrine of natural justice and contravened the right for cases to be heard.
“The unilateral decision taken within 10 minutes without consulting with other legal experts is a grave assault on the independence and standing of the justice system,” the Bar said in a statement. The protest campaign will including stopping all court work for one hour on Sunday and wearing black bands.
The Bar said that Thursday's decision on the 17 cases was further proof of the violation of the tenets of the separation of powers in a democracy by appointing a standing Chief Justice as head of government.
The Bar also warned that it would announce more forceful protests if the CIAA did not withdraw its investigation of Sambhu Thapa and his law firm, and return documents and computers taken from his office on Friday.
Read also