The hearing of the case of Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and Chhabilal Joshi, who are in custody on charges of fraud and organized crime at Butwal's Supreme Cooperative Society, has been postponed in Bench No. 3 of the Butwal High Court.

Thursday's hearing was held in the Tulsipur High Court Butwal Bench of Judges Milan Kumar Rai and Sanumaya Dangol. However, the hearing was postponed after Lamichhane's legal practitioner requested it, said the court's Deputy Registrar Yagyamurthy Gyawali. Lamichhane's legal practitioner Mahendra Pandey said that the request was made after Lamichhane had a case in Kathmandu on Thursday and his legal practitioner could not come from there.

Lamichhane, who is in custody for trial in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case in Butwal, had paid his share of the embezzlement in the cooperative, but the bench of District Court Rupandehi Judge Narayan Sapkota had refused to release him on August 26. Lamichhane, who had approached the High Court against this, had earlier ordered the Supreme Court to seek the original file of the main charge sheet.

Last Thursday, the bench of Justices Basudev Acharya and Om Prasad Aryal of the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court ordered  to call for the original charge file .

Earlier, on Kartik 20, the bench of Justices Acharya Aryal had ordered to call for the original charge file. Although the original charge file was not received from the Supreme Court, the presentation was scheduled for Thursday after receiving a copy from the district court. The court has given priority to the hearing of Lamichhane's case.

Earlier, the presentation scheduled for Kartik 3 was postponed after Joshi's legal practitioner filed a petition. Earlier, the bench of Justices Milan Kumar Rai and Om Prasad Aryal had ordered to keep both the cases of Chhabi together since they were of the same nature.

When Lamichhane demanded to pay the amount as per the amount and fight the case outside the jail, the High Court had ordered to present Joshi's file along with him. Earlier, the Butwal High Court had ordered a request for a report on Lamichhane's case.

Despite the arson and vandalism at the Tulsipur Butwal High Court during the Gen-G protest, the case files of both Lamichhane and Joshi remained intact. Lamichhane, who was remanded in custody in the Supreme Cooperative Fraud case in Butwal, had filed a petition in the High Court on Bhadra 9 after the Rupandehi District Court did not release him even after he paid the amount of his share of the embezzlement in the cooperative. Earlier, he had filed a petition in the District Court demanding his release from the cooperative fraud case by paying the amount of his share. The bench of District Court Judge Narayan Sapkota had rejected his release while hearing his petition on Sharan 26.

A charge sheet has been filed against Lamichhane and the defendants in the Supreme Cooperative Fraud case in Butwal, fixing a collective amount of Rs 109.936 crore. However, Lamichhane had submitted a document stating that he had paid one part of the four parts. Lamichhane had submitted a bank guarantee of Rs 27.484 crore with the application.

Like Lamichhane, Joshi had also submitted a guarantee for the same amount. However, in the case of both the defendants, the same order was made that they should not be released since it was not clear how much of the amount would be retained in their share.