'Bikini Killer' Charles Sobhraj, convicted of murdering an American woman here in 1975, on Wednesday failed to get any reprieve from Nepal's Supreme Court. The apex court ruled that the status quo will be maintained in the matter and ordered reopening of another fake passport case against him.

Also known as 'Serpent' for his skills of deception and evasion, 63-year-old Sobhraj had filed an appeal in the apex court against the life sentence given to him by the Kathmandu District Court for the murder of American backpacker Connie Bronzich. He is suspected to have killed at least 12 travellers in India, Thailand and Nepal in the 1970s.

But a two-member Supreme Court bench decided to maintain the status quo in the Connie Bronzich murder case. It also ordered reopening of a fake passport case against the notorious criminal, which was earlier dismissed.

The apex court said that both the cases will be heard simultaneously.

Sobhraj, a half-Vietnamese and half-Indian, is a French national. He was arrested from Casino Royale in Kathmandu in August 2003.

Sobhraj, an international fugitive, had sent a written statement to the Nepal Supreme Court earlier, claiming that his conviction by the district court was based on false news reports and documents without any eyewitness account being produced by the prosecution.