The Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court has granted bail to Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane.
On Thursday, a bench of Judges Basudev Acharya and Tej Narayan Paudel issued an order to release Lamichhane after he pays a bail amount equivalent to the amount claimed against him, as requested in his petition.
"The order has been issued to accept the bail he proposed to submit," Amit Upreti, the court’s registrar, told Setopati. "It states that he shall be released upon depositing the Rs 26.8 million he offered, plus the additional amount of over Rs 10 million previously determined by the district court."
To be released, Lamichhane must now file a fresh application at the Rupandehi District Court. He will be freed only after the bail is officially deposited through that application.
Lamichhane and Chhabilal Joshi, who are in custody in connection with the fraud case involving Butwal’s Supreme Cooperative, had filed a petition requesting that they be released after paying their respective shares of the total Rs 109.94 million claimed collectively against them and two other individuals.
Lamichhane had submitted a bank guarantee of Rs 27.48 million – his portion of the claimed amount – at the Rupandehi District Court. However, after Judge Narayan Sapkota's bench refused to release him on August 11, Lamichhane filed a petition at the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court on August 25.
The case was heard by a joint bench of Chief Judge Basudev Acharya and Judge Tej Narayan Paudel on Thursday.
Lamichhane and Joshi are facing charges of fraud and organized crime involving funds from Supreme Cooperative. Since October 30, hearings on their case had been scheduled for every Thursday but repeatedly postponed for various reasons. The previous hearing scheduled for December 11 was also postponed.
