The Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court has ordered the release of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane on bail.
A bench of Judges Basudev Acharya and Tej Narayan Paudel on Thursday ordered Lamichhane’s release on bail in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case.
The bench also set five conditions for his release.
First, Lamichhane must accept the bail amount previously sought by the Rupandehi District Court during the remand process on January 26, 2025. At that time, a bench of Judge Prahlad Kumar Yogi had ordered Lamichhane to submit a bail of Rs 10 million.
Second, the court has ordered that the claimed amount of Rs 27.48 million submitted by Lamichhane as bank guarantee be secured.
Third, Lamichhane must inform the court in advance if he needs to travel abroad for personal or institutional reasons.
Fourth, the bench has annulled the Rupandehi District Court’s order from August 11, 2025. The court had earlier refused to accept bail.
Fifth, before being released, Lamichhane must sign a legal document agreeing to pay any additional financial liabilities that may be created by the final verdict of the court.
The court noted that Lamichhane requested to proceed with the trial outside of detention in accordance with Section 71 of the National Criminal Procedure Code, 2017, by providing a bank guarantee for his proportionate share of the funds funneled from Supreme Cooperative to the institution he worked for.
"It is evident that the defendant has ensured the recovery of the depositors' funds by providing a guarantee for his share of the liability," the order states. "Since ensuring the security of the depositors' and investors' money is the first priority, proceed with the case by accepting the bank guarantee submitted by him under five conditions."
