Bail for UML Leader, Detention for RSP Leader: Why Different Rulings in Similar Complaints?

Kathmandu: Two similar cybercrime complaints have been handled differently. UML central member Ain Mahar, who was arrested on the same day, was released on bail on the advice of the District Attorney’s Office. Meanwhile, the Kathmandu District Court on Thursday ordered Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader and former National Planning Commission member Araniko Pandey to be detained for four days for investigation.

According to Cyber Bureau spokesperson Superintendent of Police Deepak Raj Awasthi, both complaints involved women and accused the leaders of character assassination through social media.

He said both cases were taken to the District Attorney’s Office under Section 47 of the Electronic Transactions Act. Awasthi maintained that the bureau treated both complaints in the same way, as they were filed for offenses of the same nature.

Mahar was released on bail as per the government prosecutor’s office decision, while Pandey was kept in custody. Mahar secured bail on Thursday, while Pandey was remanded for four days the same day, after already being held in custody on Wednesday.

However, Joint Attorney Ram Hari Sharma Kafle, head of the District Government Prosecutor’s Office, Kathmandu, denied any discrimination. “A decision is made based on the content. But we cannot talk about the investigation right now,” he told TechPana. “Although the law is the same in both cases, the seriousness of the offense is different.”

On criticism that the ruling UML leader was granted bail while the opposition RSP leader was sent to custody, Kafle said the complaint process is ongoing. “Everything will be clear after the case progresses tomorrow,” he said.

The complaint against Pandey accuses him of sending objectionable messages through WhatsApp and email, pressuring a woman to meet, and using obscene language. In Mahar’s case, a young woman accused him and his wife of character assassination on social media.

Still, releasing one on bail while detaining the other without presenting them before court has drawn criticism as unequal judicial treatment in cases of the same nature.

 

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