KATHMANDU, JANUARY 31

The Attorney General's Office has filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding the annulment of the Patan High Court's order to release former Nepal cricket team skipper Sandeep Lamichhane on bail.

According to the Spokesperson and Deputy Attorney General Hari Shankar Gyawali, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court today, demanding that Sandeep be arrested again.

"The Patan High Court's order to release Sandeep Lamichhane on bail is contrary to the legal system and the Supreme Court's interpretation of detention in cases of a similar nature," said Gyawali.

Two weeks ago, the Patan High Court released Lamichhane on a bail of Rs 2 million.

Raping a girl aged between 16 and 18 years is punishable by up to 12 years in prison. The victim in this case is 17 years old.

The Attorney General's Office has cited two precedents set by the Supreme Court while insisting that Sandeep be re-arrested.

In one of the cases, the SC observed that if arrest warrants were prohibited, criminal cases could not be investigated, suspects could walk freely in the society making victims as well as the society feel insecure, and the evidence could be destroyed or tempered with.

In the other case, it said that the condition of the defendant committing the crime, circumstances, his/her role in the incident, benefit s/he received from the crime, and the damage caused to victims or whistleblowers, as well as the financial status of defendant should be taken into consideration in accordance with legal grounds. Contrary to both these precedents, the Patan High Court released Lamichhane on bail, the OAG claims.

The OAG argued that the Patan High Court ignored the victim's condition. "In view of the fact that the victim was injured, was socially disadvantaged, and had filed a complaint against the defendant, the order passed by the Patan High Court should be annulled," stated the petition filed by the OAG.

Lamichhane's high-flying career took a nosedive after a minor girl filed an FIR at Gaushala Police Circle accusing the cricketer of raping her multiple times at a hotel in Kathmandu on August 21. He was arrested from Tribhuvan International Airport on October 6.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.