The Supreme Court has issued an interim order directing the authorities not to arrest former Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife Arzu Rana Deuba.

A division bench of Justices Mahesh Sharma Poudel and Nityanand Pandey issued the order.

They are accused of illegally accumulating wealth.

The order states that since the jurisdiction to hear the case of the crime investigated by the Money Laundering Investigation Department lies with the Special Court the permission granted by the Kathmandu District Court to issue an arrest warrant before the introduction of the Ordinance will automatically become invalid. 

The order states that while arrests can be made for investigation purposes under the prevailing law, such arrests should not be arbitrary and that arrests made without following legal procedures and established procedures violate the freedom of the individual.

The Deuba couple has not returned home since they left for Singapore following the formation of the new government. 

A request had also been made to INTERPOL to arrest them, but it did not receive a positive response, citing insufficient grounds to arrest the former Prime Minister and his spouse, who is the outgoing Minister for Foreign Affairs.