Human rights watchdog’s call for retrospective law sparks legal and constitutional questions

In 1985, Nepal enacted the Destructive Crimes (Special Control and Punishment) Act, a law that controversially applied retrospectively to prosecute individuals for actions committed before its passage. This legislation followed a bomb blast at the National Panchayat building in Singha Durbar on June 20, 1985, with Ram Raja Prasad Singh identified as the prime accused.

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In relation to any destructive crime committed prior to the commencement of this act, where legal proceedings have not yet been filed in a court under the prevailing law, the legal action and punishment shall be conducted in accordance with this act, as if the offence occurred under it.

The Panchayat government published the act in the Nepal Gazette on August 18, 1985. Section 11, sub-section 2, explicitly stated that legal action and punishment for destructive crimes committed before the act's commencement, but not yet filed in court, would proceed under this new statute as if the offense occurred after its enactment. This retrospective framework was not solely for prosecuting those involved in the blast; a 1998 research paper by Mary Des Chene noted its broader use to detain thousands under the Public Security Act.

A Special Court was established on September 12, 1985, to conduct trials under this retrospective law. Ram Raja Prasad Singh and others were sentenced to death, while remaining accused received life sentences. The government appealed to the Supreme Court for harsher penalties, and on June 6, 1988, a three-member bench upheld the Special Court's verdict. The Supreme Court validated the retrospective legislation, asserting that past crimes could be penalized by later laws to achieve constitutional objectives, referencing the Constitution of Nepal (1962).

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The bench cited the Constitution of Nepal (1962) to justify this interpretation.

This controversial legal mechanism remained in effect until the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990. The Destructive Crimes (Special Control and Punishment) Act was formally repealed on July 12, 1990, through the Repeal of Several Nepal Laws Act, which annulled 21 laws and regulations. Approximately a year later, Ram Raja Prasad Singh and others convicted in the case received a general amnesty, marking the end of this chapter of retrospective justice.

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Through the Repeal of Several Nepal Laws Act, 1990, published in the gazette on July 12, 1990, the government annulled 21 laws and regulations, including the controversial Destructive Crimes (Special Control and Punishment) Act.