An application has been filed at the Kaski District Court to withdraw the money laundering and organized crime case filed by the District Attorney's Office against Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane.
According to Information Officer at the Kaski District Court Ram Bahadur Kisan, the application for amendment of the charges submitted by the District Attorney's Office was registered on Monday. Kisan stated that the court has not yet made any decision regarding the application.
"We will now present the application to the bench," Kisan said. "It will be presented on the day the case is scheduled for a hearing. It hasn't been scheduled yet."
The application for charge amendment will be presented on the day the bench sits for the case involving the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Co-operative fraud allegations. He pointed that a lottery system is used to assign hearings in court, and the hearing has not yet been assigned.
In the Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Co-operative fraud case, the District Attorney's Office had also leveled charges of money laundering and organized crime against Lamichhane, former chairman of the cooperative and chairman of Galaxy Television (run by Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd) GB Rai, promotor of Nature Herbs International Pvt Ltd Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Lila Pachhai.
Attorney General Sabita Bhandari had granted approval to amend the charges for all five individuals accused of cooperative fraud, money laundering, and organized crime, thereby withdrawing the money laundering and organized crime cases.
District Attorney Kamala Kafle stated that the District Attorney's Office filed the application in court to withdraw the case based on the approval granted by Attorney General Bhandari.
While Lamichhane faces cooperative fraud charges in five different districts across the country, the money laundering case is sub judice only at the Kaski District Court. Lamichhane, who is also a former deputy prime minister and home minister, had spent 84 days in Kaski police custody during the investigation of the same case.
Cooperative fraud and organized crime cases against Lamichhane remain sub judice in the Kathmandu and Rupandehi District Courts as well.
Lamichhane held 15 percent shares in Galaxy Television, which had illegally been funded by the cooperative, and he served as the company's managing director. On January 9, 2025, a bench of Kaski District Court Judge Nitij Rai ordered Lamichhane's release on a bail of Rs 6.5 million. Lamichhane was released the same day after depositing the bail amount.
In the case pending at the District Court, a recovery claim of Rs 33,765,000 for cooperative embezzlement and Rs 278,944,705 for money laundering has been sought against Lamichhane.
In the charge sheet submitted to the court by the District Attorney's Office regarding the embezzlement of savings kept by nearly 17,000 ordinary depositors in the Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Co-operative, there are 63 defendants including Lamichhane. The charge sheet seeks to recover a total amount of Rs 1.51 billion from them.
