Kathmandu : The High Court Patan on Friday released 10 individuals and remanded nine others in custody on the high-profile fake Bhutanese case.

Hearing the writ petition filed by the accused seeking their release, a joint bench comprising Judges Janak Pandey and Prakash Kharel upheld the Kathmandu District Court’s decision to imprison CPN (UML) leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Secretary Teknarayan Pandey, Sanu Bhandari, Angtawa Sherpa, Dr. Indrajit Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Gobinda Chaudhary, Keshab Prasad Dulal, and Sagar Rai.

In case of Nepali Congress central member Balkrishna Khand, he will remain in the prison until further orders as the judges were divided over whether to release him on bail or retain him in the prison. The case will now be referred to a third judge, said Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, the spokesperson for the High Court Patan.

Similarly, the High Court has decided to release six individuals on a bail ranging from 1 million to 3 million rupees. According to the full text of the court, a bail of Rs 1 million has been demanded from Narendra KC, Rs 1.5 million from Hari Bhakta Maharjan, Rs 1 million from Shamsher Miya, Rs 3 million from Sandeep Rayamajhi, Rs 1.5 million from Teknath Rijal and Rs 1.5 million from Ram Sharan KC.

Likewise, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Keshav Tuladhar, Laxmi Maharjan and Ashish Budhathoki have been released on a general date.

The accused, who are in pre-trial detention on charges of trying to send Nepali citizens as fake Bhutanese refugees to America, filed a petition in Patan High Court demanding their release.

The hearing has been taking place since November 21.

The District Police Range, Kathmandu had filed a case against 30 individuals in the Kathmandu District Court on the charge of fraud, racketeering, organized crime and crimes against the state.

Of which, 10 people are absconding.