RUPANDEHI: The Rupandehi District Court has ordered the release of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Rabi Lamichhane on a bail amount of Rs 10 million in connection with the fraud case involving the Supreme Cooperative.
Judge Prahlad Yogi of the Rupandehi District Court issued the order, allowing the former Home Minister to remain out of custody on bail.
Previously, Lamichhane had secured bail in two other cooperative fraud cases: Rs 6.5 million from the Kaski District Court regarding the Suryadarshan Cooperative and Rs 6 million from the Kathmandu District Court for the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative. Both times, Prabhu Bank provided bail guarantees for his release.
This time, after appearing in court last Wednesday, the judge permitted Lamichhane to stay with his family under his wife’s custody during the trial. Following the conclusion of the remand hearing on Sunday, he was ordered to be released on bail.
While this decision spares Lamichhane immediate imprisonment, the court has indicated that he remains under scrutiny, with the possibility of detention if found guilty during final verdicts. The courts have highlighted that there is no strong basis to declare Lamichhane completely innocent in the fraud cases.
Lamichhane’s legal team, including senior advocates Sushil Pant, Raman Shrestha, Pashupati Bhandari, and Narayan Kandel, argued against the supplementary charges filed against him, questioning the credibility and objectivity of the investigation. They claimed that the government’s handling of the investigation was biased and flawed.
The charges against Lamichhane stem from allegations of misappropriating funds from the Supreme Cooperative, involving claims that over Rs 140 million was funneled to Gorkha Media Network, where Lamichhane holds a stake. Around Rs 20 million of this amount is directly linked to Lamichhane.
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