For the first time since King Gyanendra's royal coup, members of Nepal's civil society, particularly lawyers, dramatically confronted security personnel and resisted the illegal re-arrest of two student leaders.

The courtyard of the district court here turned into a battlefield Monday as armed police and security personnel in plainclothes shoved, pummelled and struck with batons lawyers, human rights activists and journalists who had assembled to witness the case of the two student leaders.

Rajendra Rai and Rup Narayan Shrestha, both influential leaders of the All Nepal National Free Students' Union, affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, were arrested Feb 1 when King Gyanendra staged a royal coup and imposed emergency.

Though the king lifted emergency April 29, the two student leaders continued to remain under arrest. Their case was taken up by Nepal's lawyers who moved the Supreme Court to obtain their release.

Last Friday, the apex court ruled that the student leaders' detention was illegal and asked the district authorities to release them.

But though the district authorities officially released Rai and Singh Monday afternoon, security personnel swarmed the district court, ready to re-arrest the pair without an arrest warrant.

However, lawyers, human rights activists, students and journalists, suspecting that the government would try to re-arrest the pair, had assembled at the court premises.

The Nepal Bar Association (NBA), a private body of lawyers that has been spearheading legal efforts to release prisoners held illegally by the state, and even the United Nations sent representatives to monitor the release of the two leaders.

Security personnel swooped down on Rai and Singh as they were trying to leave the court, trying to drag them inside waiting vans. However, members of civil society opposed the move, trying to wrest free Rai and Singh.

While armed policemen were able to drag Rai into their van, NBA lawyers were able to free Singh and hid him in the office of the Kathmandu District Bar Association.

In a situation straight out of a film, the foiled police kept vigil outside the court while the lawyers provided a change of clothing to Singh to hide his identity and managed to smuggle him out in the evening.

NBA said it would lodge a protest over the illegal detention of Rai and petition the Supreme Court again for his release.

"Rai's re-arrest shows the government's contempt for the Supreme Court, rule of law and human rights," said Madhav Baskota, NBA general secretary who had been present at Monday's scuffle and had been baton-charged by police.