The civilian government formed on the strength of the Gen-G movement has decided to grant immunity to 50 people, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Ravi Lamichhane, Chhabilal Joshi, and GB Rai, in cases related to money laundering and organized crime pending in various courts.

The government's legal advisor (Attorney General) Savita Bhandari on Wednesday directed the District Government Attorney's Office to amend the chargesheets in the money laundering and organized crime cases pending against Lamichhane in various courts.

After the decision was controversial, Attorney General Bhandari on Friday amended it and decided to amend the chargesheets of all the defendants in the four cooperative fraud cases. The reason for amending her own decision made two days ago was a Supreme Court precedent.

Former Supreme Court judges, former Attorney Generals and criminal law experts have commented that Attorney General Bhandari has 'misused' the provision for amending the chargesheet under Section 36 of the Criminal Procedure Code. They argue that Section 36 of the Code does not amend the chargesheet of a case already filed in the court, but rather allows for additional claims or additional persons to be made defendants if new evidence is found.  

Senior advocate and involved in the drafting and passage of the Criminal Procedure Code, Laxman Lal Karna, claimed that amendments cannot be made to ongoing cases and that doing so would be a ‘misuse’ of Section 36 of the Criminal Procedure Code. ‘There was a lot of discussion and debate about keeping this provision at that time. It is not to amend the case that was finally filed. It was said that if the evidence shows that others are also guilty and additional punishment is sought, the charge sheet will be amended.’

He argues that whether there was money laundering and organized crime in Lamichhane’s cooperative fraud case should be addressed when the court delivers its verdict. ‘After filing a charge sheet in a case, additional evidence may be discovered later. In such a case, the charge sheet is to be amended,’ said Karna, ‘It is not to remove an existing name or amend the charge sheet.’ He says that if the charge sheet of a person is to be withdrawn, it cannot be done only in the case of one person. 

Former Attorney General Dronraj Regmi said that the provision of Section 36 is not to remove or amend the charges, but to impose additional charges. ‘A charge sheet is filed in the district court based on the evidence found during the investigation of a case. However, if additional evidence is found before the case is decided, additional charges and punishment can be claimed with the approval of the Attorney General under Section 36,’ Regmi said, ‘However, it does not envisage amending it by removing or withdrawing the charges when they are filed in a court and are pending.’ 

Regmi said that there is a straightforward interpretation of the law, but interpreting it in one’s own way would be misuse. He said that since the decision made by the Attorney General in Lamichhane’s case will now go to the District Government Attorney’s Office and the concerned district court, the concerned court should now clearly explain it. He said that if this dispute reaches the Supreme Court, it will be interpreted from there.

Former Attorney General Raghav Lal Vaidya said that the interpretation of the law cannot be interpreted in one’s own way. He said that the case provided for in Section 36 was not to be withdrawn but to claim additional charges. A former judge of the Supreme Court said that the decision made by the Attorney General was worrying. ‘It is not right for the Attorney General to amend the case in the middle of a case that should be decided by a verdict after it has been filed in the court,’ he said. ‘If a charge sheet has been registered against a person out of revenge, the court is the body to look into it. Not the Attorney General.’ 

He said that the wrong practice of amending the charge sheet will lead to judicial chaos. The judge said that the government’s decision to withdraw the money laundering charges while Nepal is on the ‘grey list’ of money laundering will further affect Nepal.

Former Prime Minister and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has also objected to the decision taken by the Attorney General’s Office to withdraw the case related to organized crime and money laundering against Lamichhane. ‘Now the Attorney General’s Office has become a matter of shame for history. Who will pay for the money that was embezzled from the people? The Attorney General's office will pay?' he asked.

All-out opposition, three writs in the Supreme Court

Three writs have been filed in the Supreme Court against the Attorney General's decision. Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, Ayush Badal, five law students and Yubaraj Safal have filed the writ. In their writ, they have demanded an interim order to stop the Attorney General, claiming that cases like money laundering and organized crime cannot be withdrawn and that even if the charge sheet is amended, the intention is to withdraw the case. 

The writ claims that if the Attorney General keeps amending any case at will, judicial chaos and fair justice will be lost. The writ also claims that the Supreme Court should intervene as every government concludes the cases of people close to it in this way, the judicial process itself will be in danger.

The Nepal Bar Association has also issued a statement on Friday, demanding that the Attorney General immediately withdraw his decision. In a statement issued by Bar General Secretary Kedar Koirala, this decision violates the rule of law. ‘The decision regarding the withdrawal of the case is against the prevailing legal system and the principles previously propounded by the Supreme Court regarding the withdrawal of the case.

Such a selective decision will affect the jurisdiction of the court and affect the concept of an independent judiciary,’ the Bar said. ‘It is clear that this issue will bring serious deviations in the criminal justice system itself, violate the rule of law, and promote the arbitrariness of the executive. We oppose this decision to ensure the rule of law, as the politicization of crime and the criminalization of politics encourage impunity and kill the spirit of criminal justice.’

GB Rai and other cases withdrawn! 

The decision made by the Attorney General on Friday will amend the indictment in the organized crime and money laundering cases related to cooperatives in Kaski, Rupandehi, and Kathmandu, where Lamichhane is a defendant. Three charges were filed against 44 people in a supplementary charge sheet for embezzlement of funds from Surya Darshan Cooperative in Kaski. All of them will be charged with money laundering and organized crime. 

The charges to be amended in this way are: RSVP President Lamichhane, former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, Leela Pachai, former chairman of the cooperative Gitendra Babu (GB Rai), his brother Bhupendra Rai, current chairman Than Bahadur Budha, vice-chairman of the board of directors Kailash Kumar Darlami, secretary Dhiraj Kumar Das, treasurer Kumar Ramtel, members Hemanta Adhikari, Kabita Tamang and Pramod Bhattarai. The charge sheet against former secretaries of the cooperative Anuj Nakarmi and Suraj Shrestha, board members Shiva Bahadur Gurung, Bhavishwar Aryal and Aisma Gurung, coordinator of the accounts committee Sagar KC, members Dinesh Roka and Lalita Tamang, accounts officer Shristi Manandhar, and loan officer Buddhi Gurung will be amended.

The charge sheet of 39 people registered in the case of fraud in Kathmandu's Swarnalakshmi Cooperative will be amended. Along with Lamichhane, GB Rai, Chhabilal Joshi, Swarnalakshmi Cooperative Vice President Devendra Babu Rai, Treasurer Kumar Ramtel, Secretary Iran Lama, Joint Secretary Kavita Lama, members Hemanta Adhikari and Rabina Rimal, former Debt Subcommittee member Suraj Shrestha, former Treasurer Mira Bamjan, former Joint Secretary Maya Rai and former Manager Navin Achhami will also be amended. Similarly, the charge sheet of former directors Deepak Lama, Sabina Alemagar, Bhakta Bahadur Bholan, Yam Kumar Nalbo, Raju Baral, Punam Kumar Chalise, Pradeep Lama, Savita Lama, Ganeshraj Shrestha, Sunita Newa, Shantikumari Subedi, Roman Kafle, Kamal Lama, former Debt Subcommittee member Raju Baral will also be amended. 

A case was filed against 22 people, including Lamichhane, in the Rupandehi District Court for embezzlement of funds from the Supreme Savings and Loan Cooperative. They were accused of fraud and organized crime. The District Attorney's Office claimed an additional 550 million rupees from 28 people, including GB Rai and Rabi Lamichhane, and an additional 109.9 million rupees from Rabi, Chhabilal Joshi and Laxmi Prasad Poudel, and 20 million rupees from Rabi personally. Imprisonment was demanded for both charges. Now, the Attorney General's Office will submit an application to the District Court to amend the charges in the organized crime cases of all of them. 

A case has been filed showing Lamichhane as a fugitive. He has not appeared in court in the case so far. It seems that the decision to amend the charge sheet in the case was taken when the defendant was not present in the court. Legal experts have claimed that amending the charge sheet when the accused was not aware that he had not understood the deadline and was not released on bail after appearing in court is a gross misdemeanor. 

In the case of Parsa's Sano Paila Cooperative, a case was registered against 29 people, including Lamichhane, in the charge sheet of organized crime and cooperative fraud. The charge sheet of the Parsa's Sano Paila Cooperative case, which was last registered on 29 Jestha, is also on the list of amendments. The Sano Paila Cooperative is accused of embezzling a total of 2.3 billion 1.4 million 29 thousand 8 hundred and 11 paisa. In the case of Lamichhane, the amount to be paid to the cooperative has been fixed at 57 million 430 thousand 333 rupees 33 paisa. They have been demanded to be punished according to the Cooperative Act, 2074 and the Prevention of Organized Crime Act, 2070. 

After the decision of the Attorney General's Office, the withdrawal process of the cases of Lamichhane, Joshi, GB Rai, Bhupendra Rai, Deepika Rai, Kavita Tamang, Sagar KC, Manisha Pandey, Pramod Bhattarai, Deepak Lama, Ram Bahadur Khanal, Vishal Tamang, Khimananda Kadel, Hemanta Adhikari, Navin Achhami, Rabina Rimal, Iran Lama, Sabina Alemagar, Rom Kafle, Kamal Lama, Kalpana Kumari Shrestha, Raju Baral, Bhakta Bahadur Bholan, Pradeep Lama, Savita Lama, Ganeshraj Shrestha, Sunita Newa, Shantikumari Subedi and Nawaraj Raut will move forward.

Those who were released

Ravi Lamichhane, Chhabilal Joshi, Leela Pachai, GB (Gitendra Babu) Rai, Bhupendra Rai, Than Bahadur Budha, Kailash Kumar Darlami, Dheeraj Kumar Das, Kumar Ramtel, Hemanta Adhikari, Kabita Tamang, Pramod Bhattarai, Anuj Nakarmi, Suraj Shrestha, Shiv Bahadur Gurung, Bhavishwar Aryal, Aisma Gurung, Sagar KC, Dinesh Roka, Lalita Tamang, Shristi Manandhar, Buddhi Gurung, Devendra Babu Rai, Iran Lama, Rabina Rimal, Meera Bamjan, Maya Rai, Navin Achhami, Deepak Lama, Bhakta Bahadur Bholan, Yam Kumar Nalbo, Raju Baral, Punam Kumar Chalise, Pradeep Lama, Savita Lama, Ganeshraj Shrestha, Sunita Newa, Shantikumari Subedi, Roman Kafle, Kamal Lama, Deepika Rai, Manisha Pandey, Pramod Bhattarai, Ram Bahadur Khanal, Vishal Tamang, Khimananda Kadel, Sabina Ale Magar, Kalpana Kumari Shrestha, Pradeep Lama, Nawaraj Raut

'There is no basis for filing two charge sheets'

Savita Bhandari, Attorney General

Why did you decide to amend the charge sheet against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Rabi Lamichhane for money laundering and organized crime? 

A petition was registered with the Attorney General's Office on behalf of Rabi Lamichhane. As per the procedure of the petition and based on the evidence received, approval has been given for amending the charge sheet as per Section 36 of the Criminal Code. Now the concerned District Government Attorney's Office will take up the process. The district court will make an appropriate decision.