The High Court on Thursday ordered the release of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Rabi Lamichhane, who is in custody awaiting trial in a cooperative fraud case, on bank bail. The Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court ordered the release of the accused after accepting the bank bail to be provided by the bank to ensure the safety of the depositors and investors who are entitled to the money.

Lamichhane, who was arrested in the Supreme Cooperative Fraud case in Butwal, was earlier sent to jail for trial by the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court. On Thursday, a joint bench of Justices Vasudev Acharya and Tej Narayan Poudel ordered his release after accepting the bank bail. For that, if additional liability arises after the court's decision, the document approving the payment will have to be submitted to the Rupandehi District Court. 

Among other conditions set by the court, it is mentioned that the district court will accept the bail amount demanded during the initial detention on 13 Magh 2081 and will secure the bank guarantee (guarantee) of 27.484 million rupees submitted by Lamichhane with the application. After being released from detention, Lamichhane will have to give prior information to the court if he has to travel abroad personally or institutionally. There is no restriction on travel within the country. 

According to High Court Information Officer Ram Bahadur Kunwar, the original file of the order will reach Rupandehi District Court Bhairahawa on Friday. After that, the district court will make Lamichhane submit a document approving the guarantee of the damages as per the high court order and the payment of additional liability if the court decides later in the case of damages. After that, he will be released from custody on a date. Lamichhane is currently in Nakkhu Jail in Lalitpur.

A supplementary charge sheet was filed in the court against 4 people including the then Managing Director of Gorkha Media Pvt. Ltd. Lamichhane, Chairman GB Rai, and Operator Chhabilal Joshi in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case, fixing a collective damage of Rs 109.936 million. Before that, a case was filed with 42 people as defendants and claiming a damage of more than Rs 550 million. Lamichhane was not a defendant in the first charge sheet.

Hearing the supplementary charge sheet, the Rupandehi District Court had ordered Lamichhane to be released on bail of Rs 10 million on 13 Magh 2081. After being released on bail, Lamichhane had approached the Butwal High Court on 26 Falgun, saying that the order demanding Rs 10 million bail was unjust. The High Court overturned the District Court's order on 22 Chaitra and ordered him to be remanded in custody for trial. Lamichhane was arrested in Kathmandu on the same day the order was issued. He was then sent to jail on 25 Chaitra.

Lamichhane had approached the Supreme Court against the High Court's order. The Supreme Court upheld the order of the Butwal High Court bench on 9 Jestha. After that, Lamichhane had started the court process to be released on bail by paying an amount equal to his share. For that, he initially filed an application in the Rupandehi District Court. The bench of District Judge Narayan Sapkota refused to order his release on bail on 26th Shrawan. Against this, Lamichhane approached the Butwal High Court on 9th Bhadra. 

The High Court had ordered to seek a plea report on 11th Bhadra in Lamichhane's case. Despite the arson and vandalism in the Tulsipur Butwal High Court bench during the protest on 24th Bhadra, the files of Lamichhane's and Joshi's cases were saved. The bench of Justice Milan Kumar Rai and Om Prasad Aryal had ordered to keep the cases of Lamichhane and Joshi together on 30th Ashoj as they were of the same nature. 

 The High Court had been continuously holding hearings on 13th Kartik. Out of the continuously scheduled hearings, Lamichhane's legal practitioner and Joshi's legal practitioner had postponed them twice and once. On October 20, a bench of Justices Vasudev Acharya and Om Prasad Aryal ordered the initial file to be called. The same bench of Justices Acharya and Aryal had ordered the original file of the main charge to be called from the Supreme Court during the hearing on October 27. The presentation scheduled for November 25 was postponed due to the inability to view the case.

On Thursday, the order was made after the hearing was held in the viewable bench. Legal practitioners Narayan Dutt Kandel, Mahendra Pandey, Dipendra Jha and Baburam Pandey argued on behalf of Lamichhane. Shiva Gaudel and Rochak Joshi argued on behalf of Chhabilal Joshi. Sanjeev Ghimire argued on behalf of Jaherwala Narayan Bahadur Paharai and Co-Attorney Sandesh Shrestha and Assistant Attorney General Basanta Raj Pokharel argued on behalf of the government lawyer.

Another defendant in the same case, Gorkha Media owner Chhabilal Joshi, will remain in detention for the time being. The High Court has ruled that the procedure for his release by paying an amount equal to the amount has not been completed. The order for his release has not been issued since Joshi did not submit a bank guarantee along with the application.

Joshi had submitted an application to the High Court on Thursday to deposit the bank guarantee. Although the High Court accepted the application, it has been asked to submit it to the district court and complete the procedure. Joshi's son Rochak informed that he will submit the application again on Friday and submit the bank guarantee as per the amount.