The Supreme Court has issued an interim order to the government to halt the decision of distributing money to the former Maoist combatants.

The single bench of SC Justice Kumar Regmi issued the order, in response to a writ petition, putting a hold on the government’s move to hand out more than Rs. 800 million to the disqualified ex-Maoist combatants.

The Council of Ministers was preparing a procedure for the distribution of cash and made a shortlist of the beneficiaries.

After CPN-Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal took charge of the government as Prime Minister, his government attempted to distribute Rs. 200,000 each to more than 4000 former Maoist combatants who were disqualified for both the Nepal Army and the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) for being underage or late recruit.

According to Human rights experts, children were widely used as soldiers under the false pretext of joining the Maoist militia for cultural performances during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

After luring them in, the children were brainwashed into using weapons for the Maoist revolution with promises of better education, life and career.