Ex-Chief Justice Rana held 12 hours, then police said it was never an arrest

Police took former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana from his Maharajgunj home shortly after midnight on Sunday, September 27, and held him for about 12 hours, the Kathmandu Post reported. Then they said it had never been an arrest, the Statesman reported. A day later, the government still has not said who ordered it or why, OnlineKhabar reported.

A team from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office carried out the operation, the Kathmandu Post reported. Officers brought him to the Teku police office around 2am and held his mobile phone for nearly 12 hours, Ratopati reported. He was released to his family, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Police first confirmed an arrest. Hours later they reversed course, saying Rana had not been arrested at all but taken to a safe place, the Statesman reported. Officers cited a security threat linked to Gen Z unrest without naming its source, the Statesman reported. Rana's family said no warrant was ever shown, the Statesman reported. Nepal Bar Association president Bijay Prasad Mishra said "the government must clearly answer on what basis and for what reason this step was taken," OnlineKhabar reported.

Rana led the Supreme Court until 2022, when lawmakers filed an impeachment motion against him, the Statesman noted. No court warrant or criminal charge has been disclosed in this case, OnlineKhabar reported. On Monday he asked police for extra security, saying in a written request that he had "felt increasingly unsafe because of the responsibilities I previously held in state institutions," the Kathmandu Post reported.

For a reader in Nepal or in the diaspora, the stakes go beyond one man's night in custody. If a former head of the country's judiciary can be taken from his home with no warrant shown and no charge disclosed, the protection that ordinary citizens assume the law gives them looks thinner too.

The reaction crossed party lines. The Nepal Bar Association said detaining and releasing citizens "without sufficient grounds or reasons violates the Constitution and the rule of law," Republica reported. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, coordinator of the NCP, the Nepali Communist Party, said the security threat was "merely an excuse" and that real danger would call for more security, not detention, Republica reported. Gyanendra Shahi, parliamentary leader of the RPP, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, accused the government of abusing state power for personal revenge, DC Nepal reported. Ain Bahadur Mahar, chief whip of the CPN-UML, the Communist Party of Nepal, Unified Marxist Leninist, told Parliament "the government is presenting itself as the state while violating the law and the rule of law," the Kathmandu Post reported.

What the coverage missed

The Kathmandu Post reported on September 27 that the chain of authority behind the operation remains unexplained.

Officials turned away a monitoring team from the National Human Rights Commission, the Kathmandu Post said in a September 28 editorial.

The same editorial placed the Rana detention in a pattern. It cited the interrogation of government secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar over a text message on June 4 and the detention of three youth activists at a Kirtipur holding centre on July 11, the Kathmandu Post said.

What we still do not know

Who inside the government or police ordered the detention, and under what legal authority. Nepal Police and the Home Ministry could answer.

Whether any written detention order or charge was ever filed against Rana. Police at Teku and Rana's lawyers could answer.

What the "Gen Z" security threat actually was, and whether it produced any separate investigation. Nepal Police and the Home Ministry could answer.

Why officials turned the NHRC team away, and who gave that instruction. Nepal Police and the NHRC could answer.

Whether any Home Ministry or Cabinet spokesperson has responded to the Bar Association's statement beyond police relabelling the detention. The Home Ministry could answer.