On Monday, a bench headed by District Judge Nitij Rai ordered not to proceed with the immediate withdrawal process as a writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the decision to withdraw the case from the Attorney General's Office.
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The process of withdrawing the organized crime and money laundering cases against around 50 people, including Rastriya Swatantra Party chairmen Rabi Lamichhane and GB Rai, has been put on hold. The Kaski District Court has decided not to withdraw the cases until the final order of the Supreme Court is received.
On Monday, the bench of District Judge Nitij Rai ordered not to proceed with the withdrawal process immediately as a writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the decision to withdraw the case from the Attorney General's office. 'The decision will be taken only after the order from the Supreme Court is submitted to the District Court,' said Rajan Khanal, Registrar of the District Court, Kaski.
Earlier, Attorney General Savita Bhandari had decided to withdraw the organized crime and money laundering cases filed against Lamichhane and others on December 10. She decided to keep the cooperative fraud case as is but withdraw the organized crime and money laundering cases.
After the Attorney General's decision became controversial, Yubaraj Poudel (Safal) filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on January 2. He has sought the court's intervention, saying that the decision to withdraw the case is not legal.
The Kaski District Government Attorney's Office had filed a petition with the District Court to amend the charges and withdraw the organized crime and money laundering cases as per the decision of the Attorney General. But the court ruled in a hearing on Monday that the case cannot be withdrawn until the Supreme Court decides.
Earlier, the Rupandehi District Court has also issued a similar order. The process of withdrawing the organized crime case against Lamichhane in Rupandehi has also been stopped. Cases have been filed against Lamichhane in the Surya Darshan case in Pokhara, as well as in the Rupandehi, Kathmandu and Chitwan District Courts. In those cases, charges of organized crime and money laundering along with cooperative fraud have been filed.
Attorney General Bhandari's decision to withdraw the case has caused political and legal controversy. Various parties have been alleging that this decision was made under political pressure. But it seems that the final decision of the Supreme Court will determine the future of this case.
