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Nepal Court Orders Release Of Former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara On Bail In Gold Smuggling Case

Former Nepali House Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara is escorted in a police van from the central jail in Kathmandu, Nepal, to the district court following a court order to release him on bail in a gold smuggling case on November 27, 2025. Former Speaker and CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chair Krishna Bahadur Mahara is arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in connection with a gold smuggling case. The Patan High Court orders his release on a bail amount of NRs 2 million. Mahara is arrested on October 12, 2025, following fresh instructions from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), which conducts an inquiry into his alleged involvement in smuggling gold concealed inside electronic cigarettes (vapes) in collaboration with a Chinese organized group. According to police, the CIAA seeks his detention to move forward with a renewed probe into his role in facilitating the entry of smuggled gold through the vape-import channel. Mahara is questioned by the CIAA only days earlier, on October 9, 2025. Although his name surfaces in the gold smuggling case three years ago, both the District Government Attorney's Office and Nepal Police previously free him during earlier rounds of investigation. Authorities now allege that Mahara uses his political influence to help a smuggling racket bring gold into Nepal in 2022, an operation that also leads to the arrest of his son, Rahul Mahara, on suspicion of involvement. In March 2024, Mahara is arrested from Kapilvastu and brought to Kathmandu for questioning related to the case. The Kathmandu District Court later remands him to custody, but he is allowed to stay at Norvic Hospital citing health complications. A high-level government commission led by former High Court Chief Judge Dilli Raj Acharya earlier criticizes the CIB for ''intentionally avoiding'' a full investigation into Mahara and other senior officials allegedly linked to large-scale gold smuggling.

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