Butwal High Court's 21,000 case files burned

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT,Butwal, Oct. 18: As the damage assessment from the Gen Z movement of September 8 and 9 is being made public, it has been revealed that courts in Rupandehi have also suffered significant losses. When the protests turned violent, government and private buildings, including courts, became targets of arson and vandalism.

During the unrest, numerous important case files and records at the Rupandehi District Court and the High Court Butwal Bench were destroyed by fire. According to Ram Bahadur Kunwar, Information Officer of the High Court Butwal Bench under Tulsipur, approximately 21,000 old case files were completely burned. These included files of previously decided cases. 

He stated that efforts were now being intensified to locate and safeguard files related to ongoing cases. Kunwar said, “All files that come to court are equally important, so they cannot be categorised as big or small.”

However, some sensitive and high-profile case files were saved despite the fire and destruction. According to court administration, the file related to the cooperative fraud case involving Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane is safe. Likewise, some major cases related to revenue have also been reported as secure.

During the arson attack, chairs, computers, and other items inside the courtroom were burned, and the physical infrastructure suffered significant damage. The administration has stated that additional support is required for building repairs and file restoration.

Meanwhile, the Rupandehi District Court in Bhairahawa did not lose any files. According to Padam Aryal, Information Officer of the District Court, all case files are safe. He said, “The files from the District Court reach the High and Supreme Courts, so our priority was focused on their protection.” According to Aryal, damage assessments for other courts are still ongoing.

To ensure that public access to justice is not affected, both courts have temporarily resumed file management and operations. The administration is also preparing to initiate a comprehensive reconstruction and implement a digital archiving system to prevent such losses in the future.