National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Forgotten Hero

Ujir Singh Thapa, nephew of late Bhimsen Thapa, had prepared the first guidelines for governing matters related to civil and military affairs

By KESHAB POUDEL

His works are virtually ignored in Nepalese legal history. Late Ujir Singh Thapa, chief administrator at Palpa and elder brother of former prime minister Mathbar Singh Thapa, was the first person in the nation's history to have prepared guidelines for governing matters related to the civil and military affairs. The guideline was published in 1879 B.S. (1825 AD) long before the promulgation of the first set of civil code. However, since his compilations have never been publicly stated, Thapa's work was relegated to footnotes of the history.

According to an article written by Balram Das Dangol, published in a journal of Department of Archeology, in its 1983 issue, late Thapa's first set of guidelines is still preserved at the National Archives.

Unexposed and undisclosed, Thapa's work seems to be the first set of codes on law before the formal promulgation of original Muluki Ain (first codified law of Nepal) of 1844 AD. King Surendra Bir Bikram Shaha promulgated Muliki Ain during the regime of first Rana Prime minister Jung Bahadur in 1844 AD.

At a time when Nepalese society had seen many barbaric laws and actions even after the promulgation of Muluki Ain, Ujir Singh Thapa's guidelines were comparatively liberal. Some of the codified regulations related to the criminal investigation process were more scientific and moderate than the present system. In accordance to then social system, Thapa also proposed harsh punishment including capital punishment to traitors and conspirators.

Divided in six topics, the guidelines included different kinds of offenses and punishments. It seemed that Thapa had compiled the set of rules in a unified form. Although Thapa died at the age of 29, he made major contribution by bringing together a set of rules by gathering scattered conventions.

In the first chapter, Thapa proposes the regulations of reward and punishment to the civil servants. The second and the third chapters are related to the military, its recruitment, promotion and other policies.

Fourth chapter consists of the judiciary and criminal investigation procedures. Thapa seemed to stress on the basic principle of presuming innocence before being proven guilty. He stated in his guidelines to take utmost care before drawing any conclusion.

When at present state officials are accused for using third degree methods during interrogations, Thapa had cautioned, way back, his officials not to coerce any suspect and asked them to refrain from using extreme methods. Several ways were suggested on how to make impartial inquiries on criminal matters. Instead of coercion, the regulations preferred a tactful and intelligent procedure.

While discharging judgment, the regulations pointed out the need to verify various stages before penalizing anyone. The judges should verify the crime through various ways. Basically, Thapa seems to be more concerned about not penalizing anyone who could be innocent.

This is in start contrast to the present day affairs in Nepal where state authorities like police and the anti-corruption watchdog agencies are sending people to the prison on the basis of suspicion. From verification of evidences to summoning for inquiry, the Thapa guidelines framed many scientific procedures. Although it was prepared during the period of order (Hukum), which was the sole source of unchallenged state power, the guidelines proposed many rationale ways of detecting the crime and handing out the punishment.

"We are challenging many instances of violation of basic laws where citizens have been sent to prison without proper investigation. But, Ujir Singh Thapa, who formulated the regulations to protect the arbitrary rule - was more liberal than today's liberal democrats," said a lawyer.

Ruled under the basis of different sets of scattered religious, cultural and other regulations for centuries, Thapa seemed to have put all those together in a unified form - the first of unified form of code written in Nepal.