KATHMANDU: Overturning its previous controversial acquittal, a full bench of the Supreme Court has sentenced former Maoist brigade commander Govinda Bahadur Batala to 10 years in prison for the 2008 abduction and murder of Koteshwor-based businessman Ramhari Shrestha.

The bench, comprising Justices Dr. Nahakul Subedi, Abdul Aziz Musalman, and Shanti Singh Thapa, ruled on a review petition filed by the Office of the Attorney General, adding seven years to Batala’s initial trial sentence.

Shrestha was abducted from Kathmandu and tortured to death inside the Maoist Third Division Cantonment in Shaktikhor, Chitwan, following a theft dispute, after which his body was weighed down with stones and dumped into the Trishuli River.

This definitive apex court ruling resolves years of conflicting verdicts and officially clears the path for the Chitwan District Court to expedite the trial against other accused.