The Supreme Court has said the issue of obtaining a Nepali passport by Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane by providing false details will be resolved as per earlier and prevailing laws on passports.

In the full text of a verdict delivered on January 27 that scrapped Lamichhane’s status as a lawmaker, the apex court said it is aware that the case is being investigated and it should be settled in accordance with provisions in the laws.

The Supreme Court has refused to describe more about the issue saying the case is only about the qualification for being a candidate for the House of Representatives elections.

“There is no need to further mention about the passport taken by Lamichhane in 2015 as the current case is only about the validity of his citizenship and the issue of the passport is not related to the eligibility of a candidate in the election,” reads the full text made public on Tuesday.

The full text mentions the bench came to know that the passport issue is being investigated as per the written responses furnished by the Ministry of Home Affairs and District Administration Office, Kathmandu.

The Supreme Court had scrapped Lamichhane’s status as a member of the House of Representatives saying that he didn’t have valid Nepali citizenship. The Constitutional Bench had said that his failure to re-acquire Nepali citizenship after renouncing his United States citizenship prevented him from becoming a national lawmaker.

The court had not mentioned anything about his passport in a brief text of the verdict made public earlier.

While he still had an American passport, Lamichhane in 2015 received a Nepali passport producing the citizenship he got in 1994, even though the citizenship certificate had been automatically invalidated in March 2014. After the court’s recent verdict, he has now surrendered his Nepali passport.

One who receives or attempts to get a passport or travel documents by submitting false details can be fined Rs200,000 to half a million rupees and imprisoned for one to three years or both, as per section 21 of the Passport Act.