Kathmandu, Aug. 23 -- The Supreme Court has finally cleared the way to investigate killings by security forces in the Tarai/Madhesh region under the Special Security Plan enacted to control the armed outfits in 2009.

Claiming that hundreds of people were killed extrajudicially, advocates Sunil Ranjan Singh and Dipendra Jha had moved the top court demanding a fair investigation. Passing a verdict in the petition on January 4, 2020, a division bench of the court had issued an order for the investigation, but the two justices-Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Kumar Regmi-differed in their reasoning.

As a result, the court authority forwarded the petition to a full bench. A three-member bench, led by Sapana Pradhan Malla, issued a verdict on Thur...