The Supreme Court (SC) has decided to refer the writ petition against the decision of Office of the Attorney General to withdraw claims of money laundering and organized crime against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane to a full hearing.
A joint bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla and Justice Shrikant Paudel on Wednesday ordered the petition to be sent to a full hearing, with the hearing scheduled for March 15. The justices have ordered to prioritize the case and pick bench from justices excluding those who cannot hear it in a way that hearing is not stopped.
The case was scheduled before the bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Bal Krishna Dhakal on January 22. However, it was postponed after Justice Dhakal recused himself from hearing the case.
The bench of Justice Abdul Aziz Musalman on January 20 had issued a show-cause order to the defendants in the case. It also summoned both the sides for a discussion on interim order.
Advocate Yuva Raj Paudel (Safal), senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, and advocate Aabhas Regmi among others, had filed separate writ petitions. These writs were registered on January 18.
On January 13, Attorney General Sabita Bhandari had granted approval to withdraw the money laundering and organized crime cases against Rabi. Only on January 15 did Bhandari permit the amendment of charges against GB Rai and other defendants as well.
Attorney General Sabita Bhandari on January 14 had granted approval to withdraw the money laundering and organized crime cases filed against Lamichhane.
Safal has stated that this decision is illegal and cannot be recognized or implemented. In the petition, he has demanded the annulment of the said decision.
Furthermore, he has claimed that the Office of the Attorney General is intent on weakening crimes related to organized crime and money laundering, and has requested a writ of mandamus to be issued to prevent such actions.
“Rabi Lamichhane is a person who escaped from Nakkhu Jail on September 9, 2025. Since the Office of the Attorney General appears intent on weakening the serious charges of misappropriating the deposits of countless victims and the charges of organized crime and money laundering—rather than prosecuting and punishing him according to the Prison Act—I request for issuance of a writ of mandamus to ensure no actions are taken that would weaken these cases, adversely affect them, or go against the dignity of the institution,” Safal’s petition states.
The petition also requests an interim order to halt implementation of the decision until a final verdict is reached on the case.
Lamichhane had submitted an application to the Office of the Attorney General requesting withdrawal of the charges filed by the Government Attorney's Office regarding money laundering and organized crime.
Attorney General Bhandari's decision mentions that Lamichhane, filed for justice by providing grounds and reasons, stating that the prosecution was intended to exact political revenge.
"Prioritizing the rights and interests of the victim depositors, in the cases where Rabi Lamichhane is a defendant... it has been decided to maintain the charges of fraud and cooperative fraud as in the Hon. Kaski District Court, Hon. Kathmandu District Court, Hon. Rupandehi District Court, Hon. Parsa District Court, and Hon. Chitwan District Court, while granting approval to amend the indictment under Section 36 of the National Criminal Procedure Code, 2074, such that the charges of organized crime and money laundering will not be maintained in his case," Bhandari's decision states.
Section 36 provides that if additional evidence is found in a case already filed in court and it appears necessary to amend the initial claim, the concerned government attorney may file an application in court after obtaining approval from the Attorney General. If such an application is received and its contents seem reasonable, the court may issue an order to amend the claim.
There is also a provision that the accused may also file an application for the implementation of this law.
Along with cooperative fraud, a case was filed in Kaski alleging that the Suryadarshan cooperative fraud was carried out in an organized manner. A money laundering case was also filed there. Lamichhane had filed an application to amend the charges of money laundering and organized crime along with the cooperative fraud charges.
On December 18, 2025, the Tulsipur Bench of the High Court in Butwal ordered release of Lamichhane in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case upon posting bail equal to the claimed amount.
The bench of Judges Basudev Acharya and Tej Narayan Poudel had ordered Lamichhane's release with five conditions.
