May 18: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an interlocutory order to the government, directing the government not to provide Rs 200,000 to each of the disqualified Maoist combatants.    

A single bench of Justice Kumar Regmi issued the order in this regard on Tuesday.    

Advocate Gyanendra Aran had filed a writ petition at the SC against the government's decision to provide Rs 200,000 to each of the disqualified Maoist combatants.

The apex court has also sought a written response from the government and ordered for discussion with both sides.  

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 20 had decided to dole out Rs 800 million for the disqualified fighters at the rate of Rs 200,000 to each of the 4,000 plus disqualified combatants.

After the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2006, the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) had verified 19,602 Maoist combatants as eligible fighters for integration into the Nepalese Army while 4,008 were certified as disqualified on various grounds and particularly because most of them were underage.

The incumbent government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also the chairman of the CPN Maoist Centre, has been heavily criticized for trying to misuse the funds of the state coffers in the name of distributing funds to the disqualified Maoist combatants when the country’s economy is facing crisis.