By TRN Online, Kathmandu, July 26: The Supreme Court (SC) has granted approval to review the decision of the SC to reduce former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ranjan Koirala’s life imprisonment sentence.

During the review petition hearing today, a joint division bench of justices Bam Kumar Shrestha, Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Regmi decided to review the apex court’s decision.

Koirala was sentenced a lifetime imprisonment upon the order of the then Appellate Court, Patan, and the District Court of Kathmandu on January 22, 2012, for murdering his wife.

But Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and judge Tej Bahadur KC of the apex court gave the verdict with its full text prepared within 15 days of the order, to slash his lifetime imprisonment to eight and a half years.  

The SC's verdict mentioned that the lifetime jail sentence announced against Koirala became costly for him.' The SC also termed the sentencing of Koirala by the Appellate and the District Court as relevant but the lifetime jail term given to him as inappropriate.

Eight and a half years ago, Koirala had murdered his wife Geeta Dahakal and had taken the body to a forest of Tistung Palung in Makwanpur district by packing it in a plastic bag and burnt the body there using petrol.

The joint bench of the Chief Justice and Justice KC announced the verdict in favour of defendant Koirala based on the section 188 of the new National Civil (Code) Act, 2017.

The SC had even ordered the District and Appellate Courts to release all the properties seized then as the new National Civil Code Act doesn't have a provision of confiscating all the properties if any person was sentenced for lifetime imprisonment.