Rupandehi Court Orders Status Quo on Plea to Amend Charges Against Rabi Lamichhane

Kathmandu. The Rupandehi District Court has ordered to maintain the status quo regarding the petition to amend the indictment concerning allegations of money laundering and organized crime against Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Hearing the petition filed by the Rupandehi District Government Attorney's Office, the single bench of Judge Shyam Lal Ghimire of the Rupandehi District Court ordered that the petition be kept as is until the final decision is reached on the writ filed in the Supreme Court against Lamichhane's request to withdraw the case.

The writ, filed on Thursday by senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, law students Ayush Badal, and Yubaraj Poudel, challenging the Attorney General's Office's decision, is currently under consideration in the Supreme Court, demanding the nullification of the decision, calling it 'prima facie illegal, malicious, and arbitrary'.

Attorney General Sabita Bhandari had decided on Poush 30, 2082, to amend the indictments filed against Lamichhane in the district courts of Kaski, Kathmandu, Rupandehi, and Parsa, removing the claims of 'organized crime' and 'money laundering'.

The argument presented in that decision was that Lamichhane was charged based on political vendetta and that the interests of depositors should be prioritized. Although Section 36 of the Muluki Criminal Procedure Code was cited as the basis for amending the indictment, the writ petitioners claim this action is practically an act of 'withdrawing the case'.

The writ argues that the decision constitutes a 'fraudulent use of the law' given that Section 116 of the Code prohibits the withdrawal of money laundering cases.