Kathmandu, June 15 -- The Supreme Court has done its part by clearing the way for a criminal investigation against CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chair Agni Sapkota and the party's lawmaker Surya Man Dong, putting the onus on the government to take the matter forward, legal experts say.

On June 4, the constitutional bench of the court, through a certiorari order, overturned the government decision to put the murder-after-abduction case against the duo and four others in abeyance. The government, in July 2012, decided that the insurgency-era case of murder-after-abduction of Arjun Lama falls under the transitional justice process.

Challenging the decision, Lama's wife, Purnimaya, moved the Supreme Court on November 22 that year. After postponi...