Yet again, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Rabi Lamichhane has landed into another legal controversy on the same case involving his Nepali citizenship paper, which he obtained from the Kathmandu District Administration Office (KDAO), immediately after being disqualified as a Nepali citizen by a verdict of the Supreme Court delivered on January 28. Lamichhane not only had to quit as the home minister but also lost the membership of the House of Representatives (HoR) and party chair following the court's verdict. But he obtained the Nepali citizenship paper from the KDAO and again contested the by-election that he won from Chitwan-2 with a huge margin of votes on April 23, dealing a severe blow to the major political parties and the apex court.

While delivering its verdict on Lamichhane's case, the court had also directed him to submit evidence of his renunciation of American citizenship. However, in a reply to the court, KDAO two days ago stated that Lamichhane had not submitted the evidence that he had relinquished American citizenship before obtaining Nepali citizenship. He had also faced another allegation that he had been using Nepali and American passports at the same time. But the district attorney office cleared him of the allegation of holding double passports.

Advocate Yuvaraj Poudel 'Safal', in his writ petition, has argued that Lamicchane was ordered by the court in the previous case to submit evidence of his renunciation of American citizenship. But he failed to submit the paper proving that he is no longer a U.S. citizen. The KDAO also provided him Nepali citizenship certificate without requiring him to submit the evidence of his renunciation of American citizenship.

Poudel has also sought the court's intervention barring him from holding any public post or taking part in any election until he shows proof that he has relinquished U.S. citizenship. Lamichhane had obtained his Nepali citizenship paper on February 22, 1994, became a U.S. citizen on March 5, 2014, and claimed to have renounced his American citizenship and passport on June 28, 2018.

It is also learnt that the US government has not cleared him of relinquishing American citizenship as he is said to be facing three counts of offences he had reportedly committed while living in the US. As per U.S. law, no one can renounce his/her citizenship until and unless s/he is acquitted of all the accusations by the court of law. Nepal's apex court could once again invalidate Lamichhane's Nepali citizenship paper if he fails to convince the court with proven evidence that he is no longer a U.S. citizen. It must be communicated either by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu or other relevant agency. A genuine question can be raised against the KDAO: Why did it issue Lamichhane the Nepali citizenship paper without submitting evidence of relinquishing U.S. citizenship? In this case, the KDAO also did not respect the court's ruling, which had clearly ordered to do so.

Should the constitutional bench deliver its verdict on the same case, Lamichhane will once again be barred from taking part in the election in the future, dashing his hope of leading an alternative political force aspired by millions of youths.

Tobacco use

The Kathmandu District Administration Office (DAO) has issued an urgent notice calling on everyone not to smoke or consume tobacco products in public places. The law prohibits smoking or consuming tobacco products in all indoor workplaces and public places, including parks, government office, educational institutions, airport, public toilets, cinema halls, stadiums, religious sites and bus stops. But what has prompted the DAO to issue the notice now? Is it that the DAO has issued the public notice merely as a ritual for the World No Tobacco Day, which is marked on May 31, only to be forgotten until next year this year? The Tobacco Products (Control and Regulatory) Act came into force in 2011, but you still see cigarette stubs and pouches of tobacco products strewn in or near public places, including health institutions, child care centres and old age homes. Implementation of the act is weak, and despite World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines to impose a 70 per cent tobacco tax on the retail price, Nepal has one of the cheapest average cigarette prices in Asia due to a low taxation rate. It remains to be seen if the forthcoming budget will jack up the taxation rate to discourage smoking in the country.