Butwal, Aug 6: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, who is in judicial custody at Rupandehi Prison on charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering, has filed a petition at the Rupandehi District Court seeking his release.
Claiming he was jailed as an act of political revenge, Lamichhane has demanded to be released on a bank guarantee as per Sections 68 and 71 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 2017. In his petition, he argued that he was not involved in the cooperative scam and should be released by depositing a bank guarantee equivalent to the alleged loss attributed to him.
Although his secretariat filed the petition on July 31, it was kept confidential for three days. RSP Rupandehi President Dr. Buddhi Prasad Sharma said he only learned about the petition on Thursday, four days after it was submitted.
Lamichhane has been in Rupandehi prison since April 7. His attempt to be transferred to Kathmandu prison was blocked by the Home Ministry.
Earlier, the Rupandehi District Court had ordered his release on bail of ten million rupees in connection with the Supreme Cooperative fraud case. However, the High Court overturned the decision and sent him to pretrial detention.
In the petition, Lamichhane has referred to Section 68 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows the court to release a person on bail, personal guarantee, or bank guarantee during trial.
Previously, Lamichhane had spent 84 days in custody in the same case. After his release, he was out for only 25 days before being taken into custody again.
People’s News Monitoring Service
Login to add a comment