KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 28
The Supreme Court has prepared the full text of its order that it passed yesterday in a rape case filed against cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane allowing him to go abroad to play cricket matches.
According to a knowledgeable source, the order passed by division bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Kumar Chudal, the bench observed that an FIR against cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, who stands accused of raping a minor, was lodged against him when he was abroad. Lamichhane returned to Nepal, which shows that he did not interfere in the investigation.
The bench also observed that Lamichhane had not violated any of the prohibitory order issued by Patan High Court and therefore, it would not be otherwise if he was allowed to go abroad to take part in international cricket matches as such practices also existed in foreign countries.
The bench also ordered Lamichhane to inform the Registrar of the concerned court before flying abroad and report to the same authority within 15 days of his return to Nepal. The bench stated that if Lamichhane violated the conditions laid down by the SC, concessions granted to him by the court would be withdrawn.
Stating that the case was an issue of serious violence against a woman and a case of public importance, the court ordered Kathmandu District Court to adjudicate the case in a fasttrack manner and conduct continuous hearing.
Quoting the victim's lawyers' plea that the victim was suffering from mental trauma and they were supporting her with treatment, the SC ordered Kathmandu District Court to provide fund to the victim from the interim relief fund for her mental and physical check-up and treatment.
The court ordered its administration not to upload the order on website or social networking sites as the hearing was conducted under in-camera proceedings. The bench had endorsed other orders passed by the Patan High Court, including the order to seek a bail of Rs 2 million from Lamichhane.
In this case, the victim has claimed that she was a minor, only 17 years old when she was violated by Lamichhane, but the defendant claimed she was 19 years old. On this question, the court has said that from the victims' duplicate copies of her citizenship application, birth registration certificate and SEE certificate that she obtained on 17 June 2022, she mentioned her date of birth as 1 June 2005, but the copy of migration certificate obtained by the victim on 27 September 2016 and submitted by the defendant shows the victim's date of birth as 2 July 2004.
The bench also stated that the victim had stated her date of birth in her eighth-grade document as 31 May 2004. The victim had stated in her birth registration form filled on 2 January 2019 as 2 July 2004. The court observed that KDC would decide on the age of the victim.
Lamichhane had filed a petition at the Supreme Court last Thursday seeking permission to play in the ICC World Cup League-2 series involving Nepal, UAE and Papua New Guinea, in the UAE, which started yesterday.
The court passed the order after hearing arguments from both sides.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
