KATHMANDU, JANUARY 16
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has submitted his written reply to the Supreme Court in response to the cases filed against him challenging his election to the House of Representatives.
Two writ petitioners filed cases against Lamichhane arguing that he had obtained American citizenship and later when he renounced his American citizenship, he did not initiate the mandatory process of getting his Nepali citizenship restored and thus his election should be nullified.
The five-member constitutional bench of the apex court led by Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki has listed his case for final hearing on January 25. Yubaraj Paudel 'Safal', and Raviraj Basaula and Nani Babju Khatri filed two writ petitions against Lamichhane challenging his election to the HoR.
The petitioners cited Sections 10 and 11 of the Nepal Citizenship Act and Rule 11 of Nepal Citizenship Regulations questioning Lamichhane's eligibility to contest HoR elections. Lamichhane said that he had never renounced Nepali citizenship so the question of initiating the process under rule nine of Citizenship Rules to get his Nepali citizenship restored did not arise.
Relevant citizenship provisions state that if a Nepali citizen renounces Nepali citizenship to obtain citizenship of another country, he should submit his/her application in an approved format with the receipt of the renouncement of his/her foreign citizenship.
"As I never renounced my Nepali citizenship, this rule should not apply to me," Lamichhane stated in his written reply.
He also said that Citizenship Rules had not clearly provisioned the procedures for people like him to get his Nepali citizenship restored. Stating that his work permit issued by Nepali Embassy was to expire on 4 October 2018, Lamichhane said that after he initiated the process of renouncing his American passport in May 2018, he filed a petition at the Department of Immigration on 20 June 2018 seeking adjustment of his status.
He also said that the DoI had sent his documents to the home ministry, Press Council Nepal, and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. He said he had been enjoying all the rights granted to a Nepali citizen from the date he renounced his American passport.
On the issue of Lamichhane obtaining Nepali citizenship in 2015, he said that since that issue had nothing do with eligibility for candidacy, he did not want to mention anything about the passport that was not used. Lamichhane said that the courts and government attorney's office had treated him as a Nepali citizen when he was named a defendant in the abetment to suicide case and hence the claims of the writ petitioners were baseless.
He also said that the Election Commission had also repealed a petition filed against his candidacy. He argued that as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, no one could be rendered stateless.
He also said that his case was being investigated by the police and the court did not have a reason to entertain the writ petitions filed against him.
Stating that he was member of various organisations, Lamichhane said he had obtained his marriage certificate, multiple identity documents, including PAN card and voter ID card which meant that Nepal had already accepted him as a Nepali citizen.
In the parliamentary elections held on November 20, Lamichhane won from Chitwan Constituency No 2 with a huge margin and his party, in its maiden attempt, won 20 seats in the Lower House of the Parliament.
The petitioners argued that Lamichhane did not initiate legal process of getting his Nepali citizenship restored after renouncing his American citizenship in 2018.
Safal stated in his petition that Lamichhane, who had obtained his Nepali citizenship on 22 February 1994, obtained US citizenship on 21 February 2014 and US passport on 5 March 2014. However, he renounced his American passport on 28 June 2018, but did not initiate the process of getting his Nepali citizenship restored as mandated by Section 11 of the Nepal Citizenship Act and Rule 11 of the Nepal Citizenship Regulations.
The petitioners had urged the court to invalidate Lamichhane's membership of the HoR and the RSP, as well as his status of RSP chair.
Safal also urged the court to order Kathmandu District Administration to punish Lamichhane for submitting false documents to contest elections.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 16, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
