The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear two petitions seeking Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal Prachanda's trial for carrying out killings as a military commander during the Maoist insurgency. A group of 14 people, who collectively lost 17 family members during the armed conflict, filed two writ petitions on Tuesday seeking Prachanda's trial based on his own admission of murdering his "class enemies". At least 17,000 people lost their lives in the bloody insurgency that lasted from 1996 to 2006. In 2015, Prachanda publicly stated he was willing to own the responsibility for killing 5,000 of them. The top court had earlier refused to accept the petitions. The writ petitions were filed afresh four days after a division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Ishwar Khatiwada and Hari Prasad Phuyal ruled that the petitions could be admitted. The families have also sought return of their property under the provision of the Comprehensive Peace Accord agreed between the state and the rebels in November 2006. Under the peace accord, a Truth and Reconciliation commission was promised to be set up to bring out cases of HR excesses, identify culprits and punish them, but Prachanda's party, which has either led the government or remained a partner, almost always managed to stall fair investigations. Interestingly, Prachanda's government survives on the support of the Nepali Congress, to which all the petitioners belong. Ramesh Lekhak, a prominent leader of the Nepali Congress said the petitioners have filed the writ petitions as individuals. However, another senior leader said all efforts by party's top leadership to convince the nine not to file the petitions had failed.
