CPN (UML) Chairperson and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital since his arrest. Police had arrested Oli on March 28 from his residence at Gundu in Bhaktapur, based on the report of the commission led by Gauri Bahadur Karki formed to conduct a judicial inquiry into the events of the Gen Z movement.

After being taken to Kathmandu Police Range following his arrest, Oli was immediately admitted to the Teaching Hospital when health problems were observed. Citing that he was still under treatment, Oli gave a virtual statement for the court from the hospital itself on Marh 30.

A team led by cardiologist Prof Dr Chandra Mani Poudel conducted a thorough examination and concluded that Oli does not require further cardiac treatment. Following this, widespread protests erupted accusing Oli of being admitted to hospital to evade custody.

Former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Photo: Nepal Photo Library

Nepali Congress leader and former Energy Minister Deepak Khadka was arrested on March 29 for money laundering investigation. The very next day after his arrest, Khadka was also admitted to TU Teaching Hospital. The court had given permission for seven days of detention for investigation. Since his admission, protests erupted saying “the well-connected go to hospital to evade custody.”

On the same day Oli was arrested, seven others were also arrested; none of them were admitted to hospital. One of them was even sent to prison for remand.

The practice of prominent individuals checking into hospitals to evade custody after arrest is not new. Hospital administration and doctors are said to be complicit in this.

The same pattern repeated itself in another widely discussed incident known as the “Budhanilkantha hit and run.” In that case, accused Prithvi Malla drove drunk and struck the gate of Budhanilkantha School on 14 December 2019, killing Lila Devkota, a Budhanilkantha resident originally from Gorkha. Finding him guilty of reckless driving, Kathmandu District Court sentenced Malla to six months imprisonment and a fine on 8 January 2020. Though the court ordered him sent to remand, Malla did not go to prison for 45 days – Chiraayu Hospital in Basundhara became his prison.

Initially admitted to Bir Hospital, he was immediately transferred to private hospital Chiraayu. A few days later, inquiries were made about his health condition, and it emerged that he had been staying at Chiraayu Hospital specifically to evade prison.

According to advocate Shashi Basnet, feigning illness and staying in hospital to evade custody or prison is a mockery of the rule of law.

From the Department of Prison Management to the Nepal Medical Council, all had asked for him to be discharged from hospital. Dillibazar Prison had even written a letter to Chiraayu Hospital demanding Malla’s discharge. His case went from district court to high court and all the way to the Supreme Court. The high court upheld the district court’s verdict. However, a bench of Supreme Court justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Manoj Sharma ordered Malla released on bail of Rs 500,000. In this case, the views of police and the government attorney also conflicted regarding Malla.

Former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara was arrested on 18 March 2024 in a gold smuggling case. Immediately after arrest, citing health problems, he was admitted to Norvic Hospital in Thapathali. While he was in hospital, all procedures from filing of charges to remand hearings were completed. His 24-day hospital stay kept him out of police custody. On the very day the district court ordered remand, a health examination at Dillibazar Prison found him healthy. The question of what illness had kept him at Norvic for all those days was answered by neither the hospital nor the police administration.

On 4 December 2012, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police arrested Govinda Lal Sanghai, then-director of the Triveni Group, on charges of forging documents to obtain a contract from the Dairy Development Corporation. Claiming health problems, he was taken to Bir Hospital immediately after arrest without ever being held in police custody. Bir showed no serious health problem. He then got admitted to Shahid Gangalal Hospital in Bansbari for a cardiac checkup. Gangalal also could not prove him ill. He then moved to Norvic, where he stayed 24 days in a well-equipped cabin. No clear account of what illness he was admitted for or what treatment he received was ever made public. His hospital stay kept him out of custody. He left hospital only after a court order ensured his release on bail.

In the widely discussed Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case, Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket operator Min Bahadur Gurung was arrested on 27 June 2023. Police also took him to Chiraayu Hospital for a health checkup immediately after arrest. The examination showed no health problem. That same day he was admitted to TU Teaching Hospital on the pretext of being ill.

Gen Z leader Pradeep Gyawali says the Home Ministry, Medical Council, and government bodies must become active to stop the dysfunction of feigning illness to evade custody.

Gen Z leader Pradeep Gyawali insists on serious investigation and health examination regarding the well-connected evading custody. “Even for treatment, government hospitals rather than private ones should be given priority,” he says. “The process of identifying illness must also be effective and credible.”

Public health expert Dr Sharad Raj Onta is aware of hospital administrations altering examination reports and fabricating false records to protect well-connected accused. “Health is a fundamental right of citizens; anyone, whether detained or accused, must receive treatment. But using the cover of power and influence to fake illness and turn hospitals into a hiding place is unacceptable,” he says. “The fear of who will take responsibility if someone’s health deteriorates while in custody probably prevents police administration from being strict. It appears the well-connected are exploiting exactly this weakness.”

Dr Onta insists the health examination process must be transparent and credible to bring improvement to this practice. “If a doctor fabricates a report declaring a healthy person ill, that must be investigated. But we do not have a body here that does such checks,” he says. “When well-connected individuals misuse doctors, questions are raised against the doctors themselves.”

The Nepal Medical Council is the body that regulates doctors in such matters. Council member Dr Bishwa Dawadi acknowledges the council has also not been able to play an effective role. “After learning that the well-connected were receiving this privilege, we have studied it. We have also questioned hospitals and doctors,” he says. “If complaints come about such conduct, we will advance the action process.”

Gen Z leader Gyawali says the Home Ministry, Medical Council, and government bodies must become active to stop the dysfunction of feigning illness to evade custody. “The provision requiring that objective and credible reasons be stated if hospital monitoring is needed for more than 48 hours must be strictly enforced,” he says. He also informs Nepal News that the Medical Council has been keeping under surveillance doctors who make unusual and unreliable recommendations and hospitals that admit patients for the purpose of evading custody.

From the Home Ministry to the Nepal Medical Council, studies have been conducted to stop the practice of going to hospital to evade custody. In this regard, the Home Ministry wrote to the Council on 28 March 2024 requesting a report with recommendations. The Council’s study showed that accused individuals had sought the help of doctors to secure hospital admission. The Council’s recommendation to the Home Ministry was that this practice must be improved, as both government and private hospitals were being used to help the well-connected evade custody.