The Supreme Court has issued a mandamus order in the name of the government, directing it to ensure legal accountability and expedite the resolution of human rights violations committed during the armed conflict period.
The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, in its sitting on April 29, 2026, has ruled that categorizing serious crimes such as maiming, abduction, and property-related offenses under “ordinary human rights violations” is erroneous. The bench further issued a mandamus order invalidating certain provisions of the “Act to Amend the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Third Amendment), 2024”, concluding that they contradict the Constitution and international humanitarian law.
The writ petition filed by 49 conflict victims, including Kul Bahadur Limbu, stated that once an armed individual has been taken into control, acts such as killing, torture, enforced disappearance, maiming, and sexual violence, including rape, must not be committed, and if committed, must be defined as serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Conflict victims had approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the law sought to grant impunity to perpetrators of serious human rights violations during the conflict period and that officials were appointed against the wishes of the victims.