Former Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned to Kathmandu on Thursday, 14 August 2025, touching down at Tribhuvan International Airport to a large reception from party supporters and leaders — ending a five-month absence that had drawn intense scrutiny at home. Deuba had departed Nepal on 25 February, citing a medical check-up in Singapore, but his prolonged stay abroad coincided with a widening money-laundering investigation into his family.

A Charged Homecoming

Hundreds of supporters, along with senior party figures including former acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi, and Prakash Sharan Mahat, gathered at the airport as Deuba arrived via Thailand. Supporters chanted slogans in his favour, underscoring the factional loyalty he still commands despite mounting legal and political pressures.

The Money-Laundering Investigation

The probe against Deuba stems from an incident during the Gen-Z movement in September last year, when protesters were seen burning large amounts of cash outside his residence. Nepali authorities have since frozen his domestic assets and bank accounts. Shortly after the current government of Prime Minister Balendra Shah took office, arrest warrants were issued against Deuba and his wife, former Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba, at the request of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation. The government also reportedly made an unsuccessful attempt to seek a Red Corner Notice from Interpol while the couple remained abroad. The Supreme Court subsequently annulled the arrest warrants on 25 May, a development that is widely seen as having cleared the path for Deuba's return.

Questions Over the Prolonged Absence

The Deubas are believed to have relocated from Singapore to Hong Kong during their time abroad, with videos of the couple in Hong Kong surfacing on social media periodically — though neither ever explicitly confirmed their whereabouts. Critically, the couple never publicly disclosed the nature of the former prime minister's medical condition, nor the details of their movements. Questions over who financed their extended overseas stay have gained sharper focus given the active money-laundering investigation. Deuba's wife and son Jayabir have not yet returned to Nepal.

A Party on the Brink of a Split

Deuba's return comes at a particularly fraught moment for his party. A Special General Convention held in January — which Deuba's faction contests as illegitimate — elected a new Central Working Committee headed by Gagan Thapa as president, effectively ousting Deuba from the party's top post. The Supreme Court had earlier legitimised that convention, allowing the party to contest the 5 March elections under Thapa's leadership. The party subsequently suffered a heavy defeat, drawing sharp criticism of Thapa from the Deuba camp. Deuba's faction had filed a review petition against the 17 April Supreme Court verdict; last week, the court allowed the review petition and referred the case to a fresh three-judge bench. The outcome of that hearing will determine which faction holds the party's official standing. Former General Secretary Shashanka Koirala is spearheading the Deuba faction's effort, with a national cadre gathering scheduled in Kathmandu on Friday.

What Happens Next

How the state treats Deuba upon his return remains an open question. The annulment of his arrest warrant provides some legal cover, but the underlying money-laundering investigation has not been closed. His physical presence in Nepal could re-energise his faction ahead of the Supreme Court's fresh hearing, but it also brings him back within reach of domestic legal proceedings. The coming weeks will test whether his return is a political revival or a legal reckoning.