Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case: Defense lawyers present their arguments

Pokhara, January 3 — On Friday, during the ongoing debate in the case involving the fraud of the Suryadarshan Cooperative, the defense lawyers of the accused, Chhabilal Joshi and Lila Pachhai, presented their arguments.

In the debate, Chhabilal Joshi's lawyer, Jagannath Dhakal, stated that there were no documents proving the charges when the charge sheet was filed.

"There is no evidence that he took money. There is mention of shares being deposited, but there was no money exchanged when the shares were deposited, and no money was received after they were withdrawn," he said. "He left the Nature Hubs after 27 days. He also left the Gorkha Media in less than five months. In all of this, the charges have been filed in violation of the evidence."

Another lawyer, Apurba Khatri, argued that Joshi had no connection with the cooperative. "Chhabilal is neither the operator of the cooperative nor a member. He has no association with the cooperative," he said. "He has also not taken any loan from the cooperative. The money that went to Gorkha Media and Nature Hubs was not charged to them as defendants."

They also raised the point that the statute of limitations should apply in the supplementary charge. "The main charge sheet was filed on around September 2023. After a long period, a supplementary charge sheet was filed. Why was the statute of limitations not applied?" they questioned during the debate.

On Sunday, senior advocates Shambhu Thapa and Krishna Kharel will argue on behalf of Joshi.

On Friday, Lila Pachhai's lawyer, Dr. Ganesh Bahadur Bhattarai, stated that Pachhai was not at fault because she was a collaborator of 'Boss.' "She is not a member of the cooperative nor an operator. She did not take any loan by filling out a request form. She has worked as a collaborator of GB Rai," he explained.

"GB had deposited money into the account. The source of the money deposited by someone else does not need to be known. It was never questioned where the money deposited by the boss came from."