"He has already paid Rs 22.5m in bail in three districts, with cases still pending in two more"
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 26
The Rupandehi District Court has released Rabi Lamichhane, former home minister and President of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, the defendant in the Butwal Supreme Cooperative Fraud case, after he paid a hefty Rs 10 million bail.
The court has also set the next hearing date, which is March 10.
Kumar Khatiwada, section officer of the court, told the Himalayan Times, "Lamichhane paid the bail amount through a bank guarantee from Prabhu Bank and was assured to appear in court on his own on March 10."
Lamichhane has already paid Rs 22.5 million in bail in three districts, with cases still pending in two more, including Chitwan and Parsa.
This is the highest bail amount order issued so far for Lamichhane, who is facing his third case of cooperative fraud.
Prior to this, the Kaski District Court and the Kathmandu District Court ordered bails of Rs. 6.5 million and Rs. 6 million, respectively.
According to Khatiwada, District Judge Prahalad Kumar Yogi's bench on Sunday ordered Lamichhane to be released from custody on bail of Rs 10 million.
The order issued by the bench of Rupandehi District Court Judge Yogi states, "...since there is no reasonable basis to believe that the accused did not commit the alleged offence from the evidence immediately received regarding the documents, as determined later during the examination of the evidence, the accused Rabi Lamichhane is hereby remanded in custody on a cash bail of Rs. 10 million, property bail, or unconditional bank guarantee in accordance with Section 17 of the National Criminal Procedure Act 2017. If he fails to pay, he will be sent to the local jail on remand."
Previously, during the detention hearing, the court ordered his release on bail three times on recognizance of his wife and lawyer.
The closed-door hearing in the case involving the embezzlement of funds from Butwal's Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative Society began last Thursday in the same court where Lamichhane gave his statement on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the first day of the closed-door hearing, only a few lawyers representing the government and the plaintiffs were allowed to speak. On Friday, the defendants' lawyers argued.
Officials said the defence lawyers' arguments continued on Sunday.
Last Sunday, a case was filed against Lamichhane in the Rupandehi District Court. A case has been filed there against 42 people, including Rabi Lamichhane, Chhabi Lal Joshi, and GB Rai, as well as 14 people on supplementary charges and 28 people on original charges.
Previously, the court ordered the detention of Om Prakash Gurung, the then-chairman of the Supreme Cooperative, pending trial.
According to officials, investigations into cooperative fraud and organised crime against Lamichhane are currently underway in Chitwan and Paras districts as well.
The District Attorney's Office in Chitwan has stated that a case will be filed against Lamichhane within the next week.
The District Attorney's Office in Parsa has stated that the investigation is ongoing and that it will take some time to file a case.
Lamichhane was remanded in custody by both the Kaski and Kathmandu District Courts for remand proceedings. Lamichhane has been charged in Kathmandu with embezzling Swarnalakshmi Cooperative Society savings and engaging in organised crime.
Last month, the government attorney's office filed a case against 39 people, including Lamichhane, alleging that they embezzled the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative's savings and defrauded depositors, and that the act was carried out in an organised manner.
They have been accused of embezzling Rs 1.19 billion and 9.5 million in cooperative members' savings. Unlike in Kaski, the chargesheet filed in the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative's embezzlement case does not seek action against the defendants, including Lamichhane, in the money laundering case.