The Supreme Court has ordered the submission of the file containing the attorney general’s decision that approved amending and dropping charges of money laundering and organized crime not only against Rabi Lamichhane of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), but also against other defendants in the same case.
A bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Sunil Kumar Pokharel on Thursday issued the order to obtain the file related to the January 16 decision, which reportedly corrected an earlier “error” and withdrew charges of money laundering and organized crime against other defendants as well.
On January 14, Attorney General Sabita Bhandari had decided to amend charges against Lamichhane, removing accusations of money laundering and organized crime. Two days later, the decision was reportedly “corrected,” extending the amendment to all defendants, including the absconding accused GB Rai.
Stating that this detail emerged from a written response by the District Government Attorney’s Office in Rupandehi but was not reflected in Attorney General Bhandari’s own written reply, the court ordered that a copy of the January 16 decision note and related evidence be presented in court.
The court has scheduled the matter to be presented on March 23 (Monday) before a bench excluding the current judges. Hearings that began Sunday concluded Thursday.
Earlier, following the attorney general’s decision, government attorneys in Pokhara, Kathmandu, Parsa, Chitwan, and Rupandehi had filed applications in district courts to amend the charges of money laundering and organized crime against Lamichhane.
Meanwhile, three writ petitions were filed at the Supreme Court challenging the attorney general’s decision. Citing these petitions, the Kaski and Rupandehi District Courts have also ordered not to proceed with decisions on the applications to amend the charges.
One petitioner, Yuvaraj Safal, has argued that the attorney general’s decision is unlawful and therefore should not be implemented. He has also demanded a mandamus order, alleging that the Office of the Attorney General Office is attempting to weaken serious charges related to organized crime and money laundering.
The petition claims that Lamichhane had escaped custody on September 9 and should be prosecuted under prison laws, and that attempts are being made by the Office of the Attorney General to weaken serious allegations of misusing depositors’ savings, organized crime, and money laundering.
The petitioner has also requested an interim order to halt implementation of the decision until a final verdict is reached.
Lamichhane had earlier submitted a request to the Office of the Attorney General seeking withdrawal of money laundering and organized crime charges filed against him by the Government Attorney’s Office, claiming political vendetta.
According to Attorney General Bhandari’s decision, while prioritizing the interests of victims (depositors), fraud and cooperative fraud charges would remain, but charges of organized crime and money laundering would not apply to Lamichhane, under Section 36 of the National Criminal Procedure Code, 2017.
This legal provision allows the government attorney, with approval from the attorney general, to file for amendment of charges if new evidence is found in a registered case. Courts may approve such amendments if deemed reasonable. Defendants themselves may also request such amendments.
Along with cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering charges were also filed against Lamichhane in the Suryadarshan Cooperative case in Kaski.
Previously, on December 18, the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court ordered Lamichhane’s release on bail in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case upon payment of an amount equivalent to the damages claimed against him.
A bench of Judges Basudev Acharya and Tej Narayan Paudel ordered Lamichhane’s release subject to five conditions.
It ordered that the bail amount of Rs 10 million demanded by the Rupandehi District Court on January 26, 2025, be accepted. It also ordered that the bank guarantee of over Rs 27.48 million equivalent to the claimed amount submitted by Lamichhane be secured.
On January 19, Lamichhane was released after depositing a total of Rs 37.4 million at the Rupandehi District Court.
During investigation into the Suryadarshan Cooperative case, a separate money laundering case was filed against Lamichhane at the Kaski District Court, claiming Rs 278.9 million in damages against him. Organized crime and fraud charges were also filed against him.
