Nepal Court Sets Probe Deadline for Ex-PM Oli, Lekhak

Nepal's Supreme Court ordered authorities on Monday to conclude their investigation into former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak by Thursday or release the two leaders from custody, marking a potential turning point in probes tied to last year's deadly Gen Z protests.

The ruling came from a bench of Justices Binod Sharma and Sunil Kumar Pokhrel, who responded to separate habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of Oli and Lekhak. The court directed officials to complete the probe and take necessary legal action or free the detainees in line with the National Criminal Procedure Code. "If a decision on prosecution is agreed, authorities should proceed accordingly. If not, the two must be released upon expiry of the remand period," the order stated, while allowing further investigation to continue after any release. The justices dismissed claims that the detentions were unlawful but set the deadline to curb repeated extensions.

Oli, 75 and chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and Lekhak, 62 and a senior Nepali Congress leader, were arrested at their residences in Kathmandu on March 28. The charges stem from their...