KATHMANDU: The Special Court has ordered the release of former Land Reform Secretary Chhabi Raj Panta on a bail of Rs 500,000 in connection with the Patanjali Yogpeeth land boundary exemption and land exchange proposal case.

The bail order was issued by a bench comprising Judges Tej Narayan Singh Raya and Murari Babu Shrestha, as confirmed by co-spokesperson Yagya Raj Regmi.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a corruption case against Panta, demanding bail of Rs 185.85 million.

Earlier, on June 25, the Special Court had also ordered the release of the then-PM Madhav Kumar Nepal on bail of Rs 3.5 million in the same case.

The controversy centers on a Cabinet decision made on February 1, 2010, under PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, which permitted Patanjali Yogpeeth to purchase 815 ropani of land in Kavre with an exemption from Nepal’s land ceiling laws, provided the land was used for medicinal and educational purposes.

Patanjali, registered in Nepal in 2007, intended to develop Ayurvedic ventures on the land. However, the company sold parts of the land soon after purchase, violating the 1964 Land Act that prohibits selling exempted land.

The Cabinet had also stipulated that proceeds from any sale be reinvested in similar land, but this condition was not met.