Nepal court orders against distributing money to disqualified Maoist guerillas

Nepal’s Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim order against the implementation of the government’s decision to distribute Rs 200,000 each to the disqualified members of the Peoples' Liberation Army of the then Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist.

The apex court’s single bench of Justice Kumar Regmi issued the short-term order against carrying out the decision to distribute money to the disqualified former rebels. The interim order was issued during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday in response to a writ petition filed in the Supreme Court to not distribute the money to the disqualified Peoples’ Liberation Army members, according to a source at the court.

The court also issued a show cause notice to the government regarding the case and summoned both parties on May 22 to discuss matters relating to the interim order's issuance.

In March, the government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ''Prachanda'' decided to distribute Rs 200,000 each to former combatants of the PLA who were not eligible for integration into the Nepal Army and other security services, the Nepal Live Today news portal reported. Thousands of Maoist cadres, recruited during the decade-long war as Peoples' Army members, were later disqualified during the United Nations verification process. Some were underage while others did not fulfil the required criteria. The qualified rebel members were provided various benefits under the UN-monitored resettlement programme following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006 and laid down their arms the same year.

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