KATHMANDU: An emergency meeting of Judicial Council has concluded after discussing concerns over the controversial acquittal of former minister and Nepali Congress leader Mohammad Aftab Alam and three others in a gruesome murder case linked to the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections.

According to sources, the Council met Wednesday morning to review complaints filed against High Court judges Dr. Khushi Prasad Tharu and Arjun Maharjan, who recently overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced Alam and his co-accused to life imprisonment. While the meeting did not reach a final conclusion, the Council has reportedly decided to continue deliberations on the matter.

Alam was released from Nakkhu Prison in Lalitpur on May 28, just hours after being acquitted by the Birgunj bench of the Janakpur High Court. The ruling overturned the Rautahat District Court’s earlier verdict, which had found Alam and three others guilty of mass murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

The case relates to one of the deadliest political crimes in Nepal’s democratic history. On the eve of the first Constituent Assembly elections on April 9, 2008, Alam — then a candidate from Rautahat-2 — was accused of orchestrating a bomb-making operation at his residence in Rajpur to rig the election by capturing polling booths. When the bomb accidentally exploded during preparation, it injured several of his own men.

Instead of rescuing the wounded, Alam allegedly ordered them to be burned alive to destroy evidence. The victims — more than a dozen — were thrown into the furnace of a brick kiln in his compound while still alive. The shocking nature of the crime had sparked national outrage and international condemnation.

Despite the Rautahat District Court sentencing Alam to life imprisonment on Baisakh 13, 2081 B.S. (April 25, 2024 ), the High Court’s verdict overturned the ruling, citing insufficient evidence — a move widely criticized by victims’ families and rights groups.