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Kathmandu, Jan 26: The Supreme Court has asked the Office of the Attorney General to submit extra documents and evidence said to have emerged in cases involving Rabi Lamichhane, chair of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, linked to money laundering and organised crime.

A joint bench of Justices Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma and Shrikant Paudel issued the order after hearing writ petitions on Sunday. Attorney General Sabita Bhandari Baral told the court that fresh material surfaced after the filing of charges against Lamichhane. The bench said it will decide on any interim order only after reviewing the additional records to be provided by the OAG.

The petitions challenge decisions taken by the OAG on January 14. Lamichhane and 43 others had earlier been charged with money laundering and organised crime over alleged cooperative fraud connected to Gorkha Media. The cases were filed in district courts in Kathmandu, Kaski, Rupandehi, Parsa and Chitwan.

On January 14, the OAG withdrew the money laundering and organised crime charges against Lamichhane. Similar relief was later extended to at least 50 other accused. Among them was fugitive Gitendra Babu Rai, known as GB Rai, who faces a Red Notice from Interpol. Following this, the OAG instructed government prosecutors to revise the charge sheets.

Petitioners, including senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, Ayush Badal and Yubaraj Safal, argued that such charges cannot be withdrawn in the name of amending charge sheets. They said the move weakens the rule of law, risks disorder in the justice system, harms Nepal’s image while it remains on the Financial Action Task Force grey list, and encourages impunity by politicising criminal cases.

The Nepal Bar Association has also objected to the decision, calling on the OAG to reverse it. The association warned that the selective withdrawal of serious cases undermines judicial independence and erodes public trust in the criminal justice system.

People’s News Monitoring Service