Kathmandu. The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the release of former minister Raj Kumar Gupta on Rs 50 lakh bail or bank guarantee equivalent to Rs 50 lakh.

A division bench of Justices Saranga Subedi and Sunil Kumar Pokharel issued the order on Tuesday.

The order reads, “For now, Raj Kumar Gupta has issued a cash deposit of Rs 5 million or a bank guarantee or surety equivalent to it from the petitioner and defendant as per Section 7 (d) of the Special Court Act, 2059 in accordance with the decision taken at the time of the verdict of the case.” ”

The Special Court, Kathmandu, on Tuesday released Gupta on bail, revoking the order. “The order passed by the Special Court, Kathmandu on 2082-9-16 to keep the petitioner and defendant Raj Kumar Gupta in custody for the hearing of the case is annulled,” reads the order. ”

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a corruption case against Gupta for transferring Ram Chandra Adhikari from Kaski Land Revenue Office and Kham Bahadur Pun for taking bribe to appoint him as the chairman of the Land Related Problems Resolution Commission, Kaski. The court also upheld the special court’s order to release defendants Ram Chandra Adhikari, Tulsiram Budha Magar and Ranjita Shrestha on bail.