Tulsipur High Court orders RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane to be taken into custody

Kathmandu / April 4: Tulasipur High Court on Friday issued an order to remand Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane in custody for pre-trial detention in connection with the Rupandehi-based Supreme Cooperative fraud and organized crime cases.

A joint bench of Judges Ramesh Dhakal and Swikriti Parajuli at the Butwal bench of the Tulasipur High Court issued the order, overturning the earlier order of Rupandehi District Court to release Lamichhane on a bail of Rs 10 million.

With the new order from the High Court directing authorities to detain him while the investigation proceeds, Chairman Lamichhane is set to be taken into custody. The initial bail order was issued by Judge Pralhad Kumar Yogi of the Rupandehi District Court.

In the same case, however, a separate bench led by Judge Basishtha Kumar Ghimire had issued a conflicting order to remand Lamichhane in custody for further investigation. Amid the conflicting rulings, the case was taken to the High Court. The government attorney appealed the bail decision, while Lamichhane also filed a counter-appeal, requesting that the bail order be annulled and that he be released on a general date without being held in custody.

The fraud case involves accusations of embezzlement by both Lamichhane and Joshi, with claims of Rs20 million transferred to Lamichhane’s personal account and Rs25 million transferred to Joshi’s.

An audit report has revealed that a sum of Rs109.936 million was deposited into various accounts of Gorkha Media Network. The statement given by Lamichhane, claiming that Joshi had raised capital ranging from Rs5 million to Rs12 million for the media company, was also used by the District Judge as a basis. The chargesheet mentions the joint liability of Lamichhane, Joshi, and GB Rai for the Rs109.936 million channelled into Gorkha Media Network.

Lamichhane has been released on bail, while Joshi remains in custody for further investigation. Rai is on the run.

Joshi had previously been released on bail of Rs8.8 million in a case involving the Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara and Rs5 million in a fraud case related to the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative in Kathmandu. Additionally, a case has been registered against him in the Sahara Cooperative fraud case.

Lamichhane, on the other hand, was released on bail in several cases: Rs6.5 million in the Kaski-based Suryadarshan Cooperative case, Rs6 million in the Swarnalakshmi case in Kathmandu, Rs10 million in the Supreme Cooperative case in Rupandehi, and Rs5.4 million in the Sahara Cooperative case in Chitwan.

The Supreme Cooperative case, which involved 28 defendants, including GB Rai, was registered in April last year with a claim of Rs860 million in damages. Among the 28, 17 individuals now face additional charges.