KATHMANDU: Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) central committee member Khusbu Oli has been acquitted by the Supreme Court in a long-running cheque bounce case.

In 2019, the Kathmandu District Court had found Oli guilty in the case and sentenced her to three months in jail. Challenging the verdict, she had appealed first to the High Court and then to the Supreme Court.

Six years later, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Kumar Chudal and Abdul Aziz Musalman overturned the lower court’s decision and cleared Oli of all charges. The decision came after Gopal Katuwal — the plaintiff who had filed the original complaint — confirmed in court that he had received the money owed to him by Oli.

On May 22, 2019, the Kathmandu District Court, under the bench of Judge Shreekrishna Bhattarai, had sentenced Oli to three months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000. The case stemmed from a cheque issued by Oli on January 3, 2017, which had bounced.

Oli argued that her financial dealings with Katuwal had been settled two years ago and that the district court had denied her a fair hearing. She had approached the Supreme Court seeking a review of the decision, which has now ruled in her favor.