Kathmandu, January 18: The Supreme Court has overturned its earlier verdict that required leaving an additional 20 meters of land beyond the existing standards along the banks of the Bagmati River and its tributaries in the Kathmandu Valley.
A full bench comprising Justices Sunil Kumar Pokharel, Bal Krishna Dhakal, and Nripadhwaj Niraula quashed the joint bench’s decision, stating that it was not in accordance with law and justice. The court issued a brief order on Monday.
Earlier, on Poush 3, 2080 (mid-December 2023), a joint bench of the Supreme Court (Justices Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Binod Sharma) had ordered that maps be approved and construction permits granted only after adding an additional 20 meters to the minimum 20-meter standard set by the government along the banks of rivers including the Bagmati and Bishnumati. It had also ordered that the area be declared a “no-construction zone.”
However, after the Government of Nepal filed a petition seeking review of that order, the full bench reconsidered the matter and overturned the earlier verdict.
In its brief order, the court stated that the provisions mentioned in the joint bench’s decision—such as “approving maps only after leaving an additional 20 meters, fixing a minimum 20-meter boundary for rivers and streams whose limits have not been determined, declaring the area a no-construction zone, and acquiring land by providing compensation if necessary”—did not appear appropriate from the perspective of law and justice.
The Supreme Court clarified that only a brief order has been issued for now, as it will take time to prepare the detailed text of the full verdict.
With this order, the requirement to mandatorily leave an additional 20 meters of land along the banks of the Bagmati River and its tributaries will not be enforced for the time being.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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