Congress demands formation of parliamentary committee to probe charges against home minister

Kathmandu / March 19: The Nepali Congress on Tuesday demanded the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane for allegedly misusing funds from a Pokhara-based cooperative firm.

Expressing dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s response on the matter, the main opposition demanded a probe by a House committee.

“The prime minister has been misinformed and kept in the dark. He mentioned that there’s no evidence suggesting wrongdoing by Lamichhane. However, there are ample proofs of embezzlement,” said Ramesh Lekhak, the party’s chief whip.

“Let’s form a parliamentary committee to uncover the truths.”

Highlighting past instances where parliamentary committees were formed to investigate against ministers, Lekhak warned the Parliament might face obstruction if the demand was not addressed.

A complaint was registered at the District Police Office in Kaski last month against Lamichhane, accusing him of embezzling cooperative funds.

Lamichhane, a former television host and managing director of a television channel co-founded by Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, has been accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of rupees in collusion with Rai from different cooperatives in Kaski, Chitwan and Butwal.

Rai, who was the chairman of the Gorkha Media Network, the mother company of the channel, is accused of illegally transferring Rs300 million from Kaski-based Surya Darshan Cooperative, Rs110.71 million from Chitwan-based Sahara Cooperative, and Rs 100.74 million from Supreme Cooperative in Butwal, without providing any collateral.

On Sunday, the swindled depositors of Surya Darshan submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Dahal in Pokhara and urged him to investigate Rai and probe the role of Home Minister Lamichhane in the scam.