Kathmandu/rautahat, Aug. 19 -- The Supreme Court has ordered a long-delayed investigation into the 2007 Gaur massacre, one of the most gruesome political violence in the country's contemporary history.

Senior politicians including Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) chair Upendra Yadav have been named as defendants in the case.

Issuing a writ of mandamus on Monday, the apex court ordered Nepal Police and other authorities concerned to reopen the case file, which had been gathering dust in the Rautahat District Police Office for 18 years.

A joint bench of justices Til Prasad Shrestha and Nityananda Pandey asked why the case had been allowed to remain idle for so long. The order instructs police to either explain what investigative step...