The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the Special Court's ruling in the Lalita Niwas land scam case. The appeal, lodged at the apex court, follows the Special Court’s February 15, 2024 decision, which acquitted several political leaders while convicting over 100 individuals, including former government officials, for their involvement in the illegal transfer of government land in Baluwatar.

The CIAA is challenging the acquittal of former deputy prime minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, former land reforms minister Chandra Dev Joshi, and former officials of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Construction. Despite the court’s findings that these politicians played a central role in the land transfer decisions, the Special Court had dismissed charges against them, citing that their actions were part of “policy decisions” made in their ministerial capacities.

The anti-graft body argues that the Special Court’s ruling was flawed, overlooking established legal precedents and crucial evidence. In its appeal, the body has demanded a reversal of the acquittals and called for appropriate sentences to be imposed on the political figures, as well as the continuation of legal action against the other implicated individuals.

The February 2024 ruling of the Special Court convicted 131 people, including former secretaries Deep Basnyat and Chhabi Raj Pant, as well as other high-ranking officials and businessmen, for their involvement in the illegal land transactions. They were found guilty of creating fake tenants and manipulating records to transfer government land to private individuals, with sentences ranging from jail time to heavy fines. A total of 65 individuals were ordered to surrender their illegally obtained land to the government.

However, the court’s decision to exonerate key politicians like Gachchhadar and Joshi drew criticism from legal experts and the public. Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi remarked that it was unrealistic to assume that government employees and middlemen could have executed such a large-scale land scam without the involvement of political leaders at the highest levels. He believes the Special Court’s ruling is inconsistent and will likely be overturned by the Supreme Court.

While the commission had sought to recover millions of rupees in damages and impose jail sentences, the court’s verdict deviated from these demands. Interestingly, former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai, although implicated in the land transfer during their tenure, were not charged, as the commission decided not to pursue their involvement.

This case gained significant public attention, especially after a report by the Sharada Prasad Trital Committee exposed widespread irregularities in land ownership, revealing that 136 ropani (around 6.9 hectares) of government land had been unlawfully registered in the names of private individuals.