Supreme Court Postpones Hearing on Plea Against Withdrawal of Organized Crime, Money Laundering Charges Against Rabi Lamichhane

The petition challenging the withdrawal of the organized crime and money laundering charges filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane, alongside the cooperative fraud case, has been placed on the 'not to be heard' list.

The writ petition, filed by Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi, law students Ayush Badal, and Yubaraj Poudel against the decision of Attorney General Bhandari, was scheduled for hearing before the joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Nahakul Subedi and Abdul Aziz Muslim. While the writ was listed in the cause list sequence, the bench moved it to the 'not to be heard' list.

Attorney General Savita Bhandari had directed the District Government Attorney's Offices to amend the cooperative fraud case against Lamichhane, dropping the charges related to organized crime and money laundering, which were under consideration in various districts. The writ was filed in the Supreme Court against this directive. In the 7-page 'Comment and Order' endorsed by Attorney General Bhandari on Poush 30, instructions were given to the District Government Attorney's Offices to proceed only with the cooperative fraud case against Lamichhane and drop the other two serious charges.

Although applications were submitted to the courts in Kaski and Rupandehi following the Attorney General's directive, no hearing could take place as the case is sub judice in the Supreme Court. Following the directive from the Attorney General's Office, the government attorney's offices in Kathmandu and Parsa have not yet submitted applications to the District Courts to amend the charge sheets against Lamichhane and others.

Initially, the charge sheet against Lamichhane only included cooperative fraud. The then-government had added charges of money laundering and organized crime through a supplementary case. The Attorney General's Office concluded that other operators and decision-makers involved in illegally withdrawing funds from the cooperative and sending them to Gorkha Media are primarily responsible. Regarding Lamichhane, since his role appeared limited to spending the funds received by the company, the Attorney General's Office concluded it was appropriate to keep him only within the scope of cooperative fraud rather than involving him in organized crime.

According to the report of the special investigation committee, the charges related to organized crime and money laundering were added to the initial charge sheet filed on Chaitra 6, 2081, without concrete evidence or further investigation, concerning matters not apparent or raised regarding the defendants. Furthermore, the District Government Attorney's Office in Kaski filed an application in court to amend the charge sheet, citing that individuals not named as defendants in the initial charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet filed on Chaitra 7, 2081, were charged with organized crime and money laundering, despite not being employed by the cooperative society.