Nepal's Supreme Court orders release of journalist Dixit

Kathmandu: Nepal's Supreme Court on Monday ordered the release of veteran journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, who was arrested by an anti-graft body for allegedly misappropriating a huge amount of money by misusing his public post.

The apex court nullified the Special Court's decision to send 60-year-old Dixit to a 10-day judicial custody. Dixit, who is also the Chairman of Sajha Yatayat - the public transportation bus system in Nepal which serves Kathmandu Valley, was produced before the Supreme Court today.

Responding to a habeas corpus writ filed by his wife Shanta Dixit, the court had earlier directed the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to produce him before it.

Shanta had registered the petition at the apex court claiming that Dixit's arrest was illegal. She had named the CIAA and the Special Court as defendants.

Dixit was arrested on April 22 on the charge of amassing property through illegal means in the capacity of chairman of Sajha Yatayat, a public transport corporation.

He was admitted next day to the ICU of a hospital after he complained of high blood pressure.

The Special Court had remanded him to a 10-day judicial custody effective from Friday. Dixit, the publisher of Himal and Nepali Times magazines, is considered well-disposed towards India and also writes for leading India media outlets.

He is accused of selling the organisational property as own inheritance and investing the income in other corporations. He has also been alleged to have procured a house and land in his name in the US. The total amount of alleged embezzlement was not known.