Freedom eludes Sobhraj as Nepal SC reserves verdict

by Sanjay Jha | January 13, 2009 at 04:33 am

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Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj started his morning today with husge expectation in his cell in Kathmandu's Central Jail, awaiting a visit by his fiancée Nihita Biswas, who would tell him if he would walk out of prison a free man or get ready for another long fight.But he didn't have any luck.

'Bikini Killer' Charles Sobhraj today failed to get any reprieve from Nepal's Supreme Court, which reserved its verdict on his appeal against conviction in the 1975 murder of an American backpacker here till another case of fake passport against him is decided by a lower court.

A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justices Meen Bahadur Rayamaji and Kalyan Shrestha said the appeal of the French national, found guilty in 2004 of killing the American tourist Conie Joe Bronzich, would be dealt with after the District Court decides on the fake passport case.

The fake passport case needs to be decided by the District Court first, the court ruled.

It directed the officials to send the file of the fake passport case against the 64-year-old international criminal to the District Court for review.

After the District Court makes a decision, only then the murder case will be dealt with along with the fake passport case, the apex court said.

Sobhraj, arrested from a luxury casino in 2003 here and sentenced to 20 years in jail for the murder of the American woman, was not present in the court but his partner Nihita Biswas and her mother Shakuntala Thapa, also the lawyer of the 'Bikini Killer', were there.

Lawyers say it will be a long time, not less than six months, when the apex court gets back to the case.

Sobhraj claims he never visited Nepal before his arrest in 2003.