The High Attorney Office Patan filed an appeal at the Patan High Court stating that the punishment handed to former cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane by the Kathmandu District Court in the rape case was insufficient.

The appeal filed on Wednesday, the attorney office claimed that the district court’s January 10 decision to shorten Lamichhane’s jail term by dismissing the victim’s claim that she was a minor at the time was erroneous, demanding that it be overturned.

On December 29, 2023, a single bench of judge Shishir Raj Dhakal had convicted Lamichhane of raping the girl in a Tilganga-based hotel on August 21, 2022.

Based on the same, the court on January 10 had pronounced an eight-year jail term and a fine of half a million rupees after further hearing.

On the other hand, Lamichhane last month moved the high court challenging the district court’s decision to convict him.

As per the legal provision that states the convicts released on bail at the time of hearing and those who are handed a sentence of less than 10 years are allowed to appeal against the order while staying outside the prison.

Lamichhane, who was remanded and sent to Sundhara-based central jail, was released from custody on January 13, 2023, after a division bench of judges Dhruva Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dahal had decided to release the former cricketer on bail while the investigation continued. The court, however, had barred Lamichhane from travelling abroad and directed him to report to the police while leaving Kathmandu.

In a final hearing at the Supreme Court on February 27, 2023, a division bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Kumar Chudal had ruled in favour of the petition filed by Lamichhane, allowing him to travel abroad.

Given these circumstances, Lamichhane is allowed to appeal against the court order without having to stay in custody, said Man Bahadur Karki, registrar at the high court.

Since both the sides have appealed against the order, the high court will now get the documents from the district court and put the case to trial. Then the hearings on the case will proceed, Karki added.