Acting on a habeas corpus petition filed by Batala´s wife, a division bench of SC Justices Tahir Ali Ansari and Sushila Karki issued an order to this effect.[break]
Concluding that the act of detaining Batala on abduction charge was illegal, the SC ordered the authorities to release him invoking the principle of double jeopardy.
"The act of putting someone on trial twice for the same crime is illegal," read the decision, adding, "One cannot be arrested and punished twice after serving jail term for the same crime."
Batala, a former Maoist combatant, spent three years in Chitwan jail during his trial as an accomplice in the murder of Shrestha and was eventually released by the Chitwan District Court as he had already served time equal to his jail term.
Police, however, re-arrested him on May 25 and charged him with abduction.
Police had filed a case against Batala at the Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday charging him with abducting businessman Shrestha from Koteshwar in April, 2008.
Shrestha was killed while in captivity.
Following Batala´s release, Chhalimaya Shrestha and Ramila Shrestha, mother and widow of Ram Hari Shrestha respectively, vented ire against the court proceedings. Chhalimaya fainted briefly while Ramila was upset with the decision.
Police are yet to nab Kali Bahadur Kham, a UCPN (Maoist) central committee member and the main accused in the murder case.
Meanwhile, the SC on Monday said that it will issue an order on a case involving Minister for Information and Communications Agni Sapkota on Tuesday. A group of human rights activists had filed a writ petition against Sapkota accusing him of masterminding the killing of Ajun Lama, a local of Kavre, during the insurgency.
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