Spread the love

Kathmandu, Dec 20: Rastriya Swatantra Party chair Rabi Lamichhane has been released on bail in a cooperative fraud case. On Friday, he was freed after submitting a bank guarantee of Rs 374.84 million at the Rupandehi District Court in Bhairahawa, according to information officer Padam Aryal.

With his release, the path is open for Lamichhane to run as a candidate in the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5, 2026. The House of Representatives Election Act does not bar a person facing trial from contesting elections.

Only those who have received final convictions in serious crimes such as corruption, rape, human trafficking, drug trade, money laundering, passport misuse, kidnapping, or other offences involving moral turpitude, or those sentenced to life imprisonment or 20 years or more, are disqualified from running.

In Lamichhane’s case, a money laundering case is under consideration at the Kaski District Court. He has not been convicted, and no final verdict has been issued. Similarly, the law bars candidates convicted of organised crime or culpable homicide, with sentences below 20 years, until six years have passed after serving the sentence. Lamichhane only faces an ongoing organised crime case, with no sentence imposed. Therefore, this provision also does not restrict his candidacy.

The law further states that anyone sentenced to more than five years in prison for other offences cannot contest elections until six years after completing the sentence. Had Lamichhane received a sentence exceeding five years in the cooperative fraud case, he would have been barred for that period. None of these conditions apply at present, meaning he remains eligible to contest the election.

However, even if Lamichhane wins the March 5, 2026 election, he will not be able to function as a lawmaker or become a minister. Under the law, a suspended member of parliament cannot be appointed as a minister. Section 27 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2008 states that once a money laundering case is filed, any official, office bearer, or public servant is automatically suspended until the case is resolved.

Lamichhane faces a claim of Rs 278.94 million in money laundering charges linked to the cooperative fraud case. In total, the government has claimed more than Rs 307.1 million against him in both cases at the Kaski District Court. Until these cases are settled, he will remain suspended from his parliamentary position.

On December 23, 2024, Speaker Devraj Ghimire suspended Lamichhane as an MP based on this law. After his release on bail, Lamichhane applied on January 31, 2025, seeking revocation of the suspension. He argued that he was not in custody and that suspending an elected lawmaker under another law went against parliamentary supremacy. Former RSP lawmakers Santosh Pariyar and Sobita Gautam also urged the Speaker not to enforce the suspension.

The Speaker rejected the request, stating that the suspension was automatic under the law following a letter from the Kaski District Government Attorney’s Office, and that lifting it would amount to defying both court process and existing laws.

People’s News Monitoring Service