Supreme Court Schedules Hearing on Petition Against Withdrawal of Charges Against Rabi Lamichhane in Cooperative Fraud Case

Kathmandu. A hearing date has been set in the Supreme Court for the writ petition challenging the withdrawal of the charges related to organized crime and money laundering filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane in connection with cooperative fraud.

The writ petition is scheduled to be heard by a joint bench comprising Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla and Justice Shrikant Paudel. Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi, law students Ayush Badal, and Yuvraj Paudel filed the writ against the decision made by Attorney General Savita Bhandari, who had directed the District Government Attorney's Offices to amend the cases of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering pending against Lamichhane in various districts.

In the 7-page 'Comment and Order' endorsed by Attorney General Savita Bhandari on Poush 30, the District Government Attorney's Offices were directed to proceed with the case against Lamichhane only for cooperative fraud and drop the other two serious charges.

Although applications were presented to the Kaski and Rupandehi District Courts according to the Attorney General's directive, the hearing could not proceed because the case is sub judice in the Supreme Court. In accordance with the directive from the Attorney General's Office, the government attorney's offices in Kathmandu and Parsa have not yet filed applications in the District Courts to amend the indictment against Lamichhane and others.