Rupandehi Court Grants Lamichhane Rs 10 Million Bail

The Rupandehi District Court has allowed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader Rabi Lamichhane to be released on bail for Rs 10 million in connection with a fraud case involving the Supreme Cooperative. Judge Prahlad Yogi issued the order, granting Lamichhane the right to stay out of jail.

Previously, Lamichhane had been granted bail in two other cooperative fraud cases. In the Suryadarshan Cooperative case, he paid Rs 6.5 million bail in the Kaski District Court, and in the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative case, he was granted Rs 6 million bail by the Kathmandu District Court. In both cases, Prabhu Bank provided the bail guarantees.

This time, after appearing in court last Wednesday, Lamichhane was allowed to stay with his family under his wife’s custody during the trial. After the remand hearing on Sunday, he was released on bail.

Although Lamichhane avoids immediate jail time, the court has warned that he could be detained if found guilty after the final decision. The courts have emphasized that there is not enough evidence to fully clear Lamichhane of the fraud charges.

Lamichhane’s legal team, including senior lawyers Sushil Pant, Raman Shrestha, Pashupati Bhandari, and Narayan Kandel, argued that the additional charges against him were not credible and that the investigation was biased and unfair. They questioned the handling of the case by the government.

The charges against Lamichhane involve accusations of misusing money from the Supreme Cooperative. It is alleged that over Rs 140 million was transferred to Gorkha Media Network, a company Lamichhane is involved with. Around Rs 20 million of this amount is said to be directly connected to Lamichhane.