KATHMANDU: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chair Rabi Lamichhane, currently in judicial custody at Rupandehi prison, has filed a petition at the Rupandehi District Court seeking release on bail. He faces charges related to cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering.
Lamichhane has claimed that his imprisonment is politically motivated and has requested to be released on a bank guarantee under Sections 68 and 71 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 2017. In his petition, he argued that he had no involvement in the cooperative fraud case and that he should be allowed to post bail equivalent to the amount of financial liability attributed to him.
According to Lamichhane’s secretariat, the petition was submitted on August 4.
Lamichhane has been in custody at Rupandehi prison since April 7. He had attempted to transfer to Kathmandu prison, but the Ministry of Home Affairs denied the request.
Earlier, the Rupandehi District Court had ordered Lamichhane’s release on a bail of Rs 10 million in the case concerning Butwal-based Supreme Cooperative. However, the High Court later overturned the decision and ordered pre-trial detention.
In his petition, Lamichhane has cited Section 68 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows the court to release a defendant on surety, bail, or bank guarantee, to argue for his conditional release.
Lamichhane had previously spent 84 days in custody in connection with the same cooperative case. He was released and remained outside for 25 days before being detained again.
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