A man whose prison sentence ended on May 20 spent more than four further months behind bars.
On October 16, the Supreme Court ordered him freed. It found no established legal basis for keeping him.
Justice Tek Prasad Dhungana issued the order on a habeas corpus petition. Diwas Ratna filed it on behalf of his father, Dik Bahadur Damai. The order was reported publicly on October 18.
What the court found
The court found that Damai’s sentence ended on May 20. His detention from May 21 onward had no reasonable legal basis shown before the court. He remained in Dillibazar Prison for more than four months after that.
Prison authorities reportedly argued that he had to stay because of a separate cheque-dishonour case. They could not produce the judgment or supporting documents. The Kathmandu District Court reportedly said its records had been destroyed in a fire on September 9.
Why he was in prison
Damai had been jailed in a loan-recovery dispute involving Nawadhawalagiri Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd. He was sentenced to imprisonment because the amount due under a court decision had not been recovered.
What a habeas corpus petition does
A habeas corpus petition asks a court to check whether someone is being held lawfully. If a relative believes a detention has no valid basis, they can ask the court to review it. If the court agrees, it can order release.
The question here was not whether Damai was rightly sentenced. It was whether anyone had a valid reason to hold him after the sentence ended.
Questions about accountability
The case points to gaps that need answers:
Sentence monitoring: what makes sure prisoners are released when their sentences end
Records: if a court record is destroyed, what other official records can show whether another detention order is still valid
Responsibility: which office checks sentence calculations and any separate grounds for custody
Other detention cases over Dashain
- Titu Thakur: the court ordered authorities to explain within three days the circumstances of her alleged unlawful arrest.
- Four detainees: the Central Investigation Bureau was told to produce them before the court within 24 hours, with the original investigation files.
- Subas Sunar and Bikash Kumar Tiwari: their petitions were dismissed on October 16.
Court administration said eight petitions were filed on October 16 and 13 had been registered since the holiday began. These cases have different facts and outcomes. They do not show that every challenged detention was unlawful.
