The court order has paved the way for the accused, including Rabi Lamichhane, to settle the case by ensuring the return of the money lost by the victims.
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The Rupandehi District Court has ordered to amend the charges of organized crime and money laundering filed against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Rabi Lamichhane.
Following the court's order, the District Government Attorney's Office will withdraw the charges of organized crime and money laundering in the case involving Rabi Lamichhane and GB Rai.
The bench of District Court Judge Ramesh Kant Adhikari has ordered to amend the two charges added later, keeping the cooperative fraud case intact, in accordance with Section 37 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2074 BS. 'This amendment order shall be considered an integral part of the case related to the submitted application and the file shall be attached,' the order states, 'and the name of the case in the electronic system shall also be amended.' The Rupandehi District Court's order has paved the way for the accused including Rabi Lamichhane to settle the case by ensuring the return of the money lost by the victims.
Apart from cooperative fraud, charges other than cooperative fraud filed against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Rabi Lamichhane, Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, Kumar Ramtel and others have been withdrawn. A case was registered against 22 people, including Rabi Lamichhane, on charges of embezzlement of nearly Rs 550 million from Butwal's Supreme Savings and Loan Cooperative. Although a case was initially registered for cooperative fraud, the police later added a case of organized crime and money laundering through supplementary charges.
It is mentioned that while the initial case was prosecuted only for cooperative fraud, the nature of the case changed after additional charges related to organized crime and money laundering were added later, making it more difficult for the victim savers to get their money back.
Advocate Mahendra Pandey, who argued on behalf of Rabi Lamichhane in court on Monday, said that although cooperative fraud cases can be resolved through settlement under certain circumstances under the current legal system, such a process will be obstructed if the charges related to organized crime and money laundering remain. ‘Therefore, in order for the cooperative victims in this case to get their money back and get justice, the defendants in the related cases of organized crime and money laundering must be withdrawn,’ he said. ‘If the petitioner maintains the charges related to organized crime and money laundering, it will create a situation where the cooperative victims will be deprived of the opportunity to get their savings back.’ He said that the order to amend the charges was in favor of the cooperative victims, prioritizing the interests of the victims and judicial resolution.
Joint Attorney Sandesh Shrestha of the High Government Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Prakash Marasini and Assistant District Attorney Sunil Lamichhane argued on behalf of the case. District Attorney Prakash Marasini said that the charges of organized crime and money laundering in the case filed against Rabi Lamichhane cannot be reconciled with the victims and there is no basis for them to get relief, so the charges were demanded to be amended. ‘As per the decision of the Attorney General, the office had initiated the process of amending the case. An order has been issued to amend the charges,’ he said, ‘Now the path of reconciliation has been opened for the protection of the victims and justice.’ Earlier, the District Courts of Kaski and Parsa had also withdrawn the charges except for cooperative fraud.
On 13 Magh 2081, the Rupandehi District Court had ordered the release of Rabi Lamichhane on a bail of 10 million rupees in a case registered regarding the embezzlement of funds from the Supreme Cooperative of Butwal. Rabi himself had approached the High Court against that. However, a joint bench of Justice Ramesh Dhakal and Justice Santhiya Parajuli of the Tulsipur High Court Butwal Bench had on 22 Chaitra 2081 (April 10) overturned the District Court's order and ordered his detention. The Supreme Court's order was also upheld by the Supreme Court.
However, Rabi Lamichhane had again filed a case in the District Court demanding his release by paying the amount due to him. After the District Court rejected it, he again approached the Butwal High Court against it. The bench of Chief Justice Basudev Acharya and Tej Narayan Poudel of the Tulsipur High Court Butwal Bench had ordered Rabi Lamichhane's release from detention on 3 Poush 2082 (December 1).
