KATHMANDU, Jan 29: The Rupandehi District Court has decided to hold off on withdrawing cases against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chair Rabi Lamichhane and 50 others, stating that a decision will be taken only after the Supreme Court rules on a writ petition filed on the matter.
Citing that a writ related to the withdrawal of cases on money laundering and organized crime charges is currently under consideration at the Supreme Court, Rupandehi District Court Judge Shyam Lal Ghimire issued an order saying no immediate decision can be made.
“The court has ordered that no decision can be taken at this stage as the matter is under consideration at the Supreme Court,” said court registrar Krishna Prasad Poudel.
Case against Rabi Lamichhane and 42 others taken to Rupandehi D...
Attorney General Sabita Bhandari Baral had decided on January 14 to amend the charge sheets to discontinue money laundering and organized crime cases filed against Lamichhane at the district courts of Kaski, Kathmandu, Rupandehi, and Chitwan.
Based on that decision, the Government Attorney’s Office submitted an application to the Rupandehi District Court on January 18 seeking withdrawal of the case. However, on January 20, the district court stated that it could not issue an order to withdraw the case as the issue was sub judice at the Supreme Court.
A writ petition challenging Attorney General Baral’s decision was filed at the Supreme Court on January 18. On January 20, a single bench of Justice Abdul Aziz Musalman issued a show-cause order in the case.
Two days later, on January 22, the case was listed before a bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Bal Krishna Dhakal, but the hearing was deferred. Subsequently, on January 25, a bench comprising Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Shrikant Paudel ordered the Attorney General to submit the original case files along with additional evidence.
Except for Rupandehi, applications to withdraw cases against Lamichhane have not been filed in other districts.
