The case was heard by a joint bench of Justices Milan Kumar Rai and Sanumaya Dangol on Thursday.
What you should know
The case of National Independent Party President Rabi Lamichhane and former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, who are in custody on charges of fraud and organized crime at Butwal's Supreme Cooperative Society, has been filed in Bench No. 3 of the Butwal High Court.
The case was placed before a joint bench of Justice Milan Kumar Rai and Sanumaya Dangol on Thursday. Yagyamurthy Gyawali, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Butwal, said that it was placed in bench number 3 by lottery.
Lamichhane, who was remanded 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 July 26.
In the case of Lamichhane, who had gone to the High Court against that, the Supreme Court had earlier ordered the original charge sheet to be sought in the hearing held on Kartik 27.
Last Thursday, the bench of Justice Basudev Acharya and Om Prasad Aryal of the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court had ordered the original charge sheet to be sought. Earlier on Kartik 20, the bench of Justice Acharya Aryal had ordered the summoning of the initial file.
Although the file of the initial file was not received from the Supreme Court, the hearing 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 hearing was scheduled for Kartik 13. However, the hearing was postponed after the legal practitioner of Chhabilal Joshi filed an application. Earlier, the bench of Justice Milan Kumar Rai and Om Prasad Aryal had ordered that both the cases of Chhabilal and Chhabi be kept together as 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 that the file of Chhabilal Joshi be submitted along with Ravi. Earlier, Justice Rai's bench had ordered a request for a report on Lamichhane's case.
Despite the arson and vandalism of the Tulsipur Butwal bench of the 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 after hearing his petition on Sharan 26.
A charge sheet has been filed against the defendants including Ravi in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case in Butwal, setting a collective amount of Rs 109.936 crore. However, Lamichhane had submitted a document stating that he had paid one part of the amount out of 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, since it was not clear how much amount would be fixed for each of the defendants, a similar order was made that they should not be released.
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are in jail for pre-trial detention. Lamichhane, who is in Bhairahawa prison, has been transferred to Nakhkhu prison in Lalitpur, while Joshi is in Bhairahawa prison.
