The Kaski District Court has granted bail to seven accused including Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane in the case related to misappropriation of savings of Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperative.
A bench of Kaski District Court Judge Nitij Rai ordered Lamichhane’s release on a bail of Rs 6.5 million on Thursday.
Similarly, the court granted bail of Rs 8.8 million to former deputy inspector general of police Chhabi Lal Joshi, Rs 1.5 million to Ram Bahadur Khanal, Rs 3.7 million to Lila Pachhai, Rs 500,000 each to Arati Gurung and Mina Gurung, and Rs 100,000 to Krishna Bahadur Gurung.
The District Government Attorney’s Office, Kaski, had filed a case of embezzlement of cooperative savings, organized crime, and money laundering against Lamichhane in the Kaski District Court on December 22.
Police had arrested Lamichhane from the RSP central office in Chamati of Kathmandu on October 18 and taken him to Pokhara the same day to investigate him for cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering.
Alleging that Lamichhane, who was then deputy prime minister and home minister, was involved in cooperative fraud, Nepali Congress had repeatedly obstructed House of Representatives meetings last year demanding formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the matter. A parliamentary special inquiry committee on cooperative fraud also including a member from RSP was then formed on May 28, 2024.
The committee had investigated the matter and recommended action against Lamichhane saying savings of the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Cooperative had been transferred illegally to Gorkha Media Network when he was its managing director.
The District Police Office, Kaski, had proceeded with investigation after the Cabinet decided to implement the committee’s report.
After completing its investigation, Kaski Police had submitted its report to the District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO), Kaski, with recommendation to prosecute 51 people including Lamichhane.
The DGAO had then filed a case at the Kaski District Court on December 22. It had sought Rs 33.76 million for cooperative fraud and Rs 278.94 million for money laundering from Lamichhane.
According to the provision in Section 27 of the Asset (Money) Laundering Prevention Act, 2008, a public servant will be suspended if a case is registered against them.
