Kathmandu, Dec 17: The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing today in the passport misuse case against Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane.
The hearing follows a writ filed two years ago by Yubaraj Paudel (Safal), seeking that a case be registered against Lamichhane for passport-related offenses. Paudel challenged the decision of the Attorney General’s Office not to file a case, arguing it violated the law.
On Chaitra 6, 2079, the Attorney General’s Office had decided that no case should be pursued against Lamichhane. Prior to that, both the police and the government attorney’s office had decided against filing charges in the passport matter.
Paudel noted that claiming Nepali citizenship while being a U.S. citizen and obtaining a Nepali passport by filling out the application form constitutes an offense under Section 5(b) of the Passport Act, 2024. He argued that the AG’s decision not to proceed with a case was biased.
He further claimed that the AG overstepped its jurisdiction by concluding that Lamichhane had no criminal intent in obtaining the passport.
Paudel has demanded that the Department of Immigration provide details on when and for what purposes Lamichhane allegedly misused the passport.
The writ also seeks a Supreme Court interim order, under Rule 49 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2074, directing the Election Commission and other concerned parties to prevent Lamichhane from exercising political rights as a Nepali citizen until the matter is fully resolved.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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