Former Nepal Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana Arrested at Kathmandu Home

Police arrested former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at his Maharajgunj house, according to a senior source. Rana, appointed chief justice on Jan 1 2019, faced an impeachment motion in Parliament on Feb 13 2022 and was subsequently suspended. The motion lingered without resolution until the parliamentary session ended, after which the former secretary-general of the Federal Parliament Secretariat declared the impeachment inactive.

A writ petition challenging that declaration was filed, but on Sep 9 the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, led by Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma, ruled the impeachment had lost its purpose and dismissed the petitions. The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office announced the arrest, but further details remain unavailable.