The Kaski District Court on Thursday, January 9, ordered the release of Rabi Lamichhane, Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), on bail.
A single bench of Judge Nitiz Rai ruled that Lamichhane be released upon posting bail of Rs 6.5 million.
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Lamichhane has been in custody for the past 84 days following his arrest on October 18 last year from his party office in Kathmandu. The former deputy prime minister and home minister was detained in connection with the embezzlement of funds at Pokhara-based Surya Darshan Cooperative.
The court also ordered the release of other defendants in the case, including Chhabilal Joshi, Lila Pachhai, and Ram Bahadur Khanal.
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Earlier on December 22, the District Government Attorney’s Office in Kaski filed a chargesheet against Lamichhane and 30 others at the Kaski District Court. The charges include cooperative fraud for all accused, organized crime for 19 individuals, and money laundering for four. Lamichhane faces all three charges.
Lamichhane, a television personality-turned-politician, was suspended as a lawmaker representing Chitwan Constituency-2 a day after the charges were filed in the Kaski case.
Separately, on January 5, the District Government Attorney’s Office in Kathmandu filed a case against Lamichhane and 38 others at the Kathmandu District Court. They are accused of cooperative fraud and organized crime in relation to embezzlement of funds at Kathmandu-based Swarnalaxmi Multipurpose Cooperative.
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