A year after clearing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane of any wrongdoing in the dual passport case, the Office of the Attorney General issued a letter on Tuesday stating that there are no cases against him in the cooperative fraud cases.

The first of its kind letter issued by the OAG favouring Lamichhane, who also is the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, has drawn criticism from various quarters. It was issued at the request of Lamichhane to determine whether any cases of cooperative fraud had been registered in Rupandehi, Chitwan and Kaski districts. In his application to the OAG, Lamichhane had said he needed the information to clarify to Parliament and the public about the allegations he was facing.

“We issued the letter after inquiring with our subordinate offices in the respective districts,” Surya Raj Dahal, spokesperson for the OAG, told the Post. “The response was made respecting the citizens’ right to information.” He, however, agreed that no such letters had ever been issued. It was because nobody had come to seek such letters in the past, Dahal claimed.

Officials at the OAG claim the letter only has a piece of information regarding the case. “It is neither a clean chit nor does it bar anyone from filing a case if there are any,” said Dahal, defending the move.

However, critics say the OAG has started a wrong practice by issuing the letter. “The agency entitled to prosecution shouldn't be issuing such letters. This is not what it is supposed to do,” Baburam Kunwar, a former attorney general, told the Post. “The OAG has set a wrong precedent.”

Ever since the formation of the new alliance on March 4, the Nepali Congress has demanded a parliamentary panel to investigate the fraud charges against the home minister. But he is using the state machinery to shield himself. Last month, the Nepal Police chief had claimed there were no cases against Lamichhane regarding the cooperatives funds scam. Now it is the OAG that has stepped in to defend him.

On Tuesday, during the all-party meeting called by the Speaker, Lamichhane had produced the letter issued by the Office of the Attorney General stating that no case of cooperative fraud against him has been registered anywhere in the country.

“We see attempts to defame the state agencies claiming they have been politicised. Such moves validate those allegations,” a former attorney general told the Post on the condition of anonymity. “Just because the attorney general is a political appointee doesn’t mean you cannot resist political pressure. You have to maintain the sanctity of the institution.”

The former attorney general, who also is a senior advocate, said the attorney general is a constitutional position with huge responsibilities. One holding the position must maintain its dignity, he said.

The attorney general, as per the constitution, is the chief legal advisor to the government who also has a role to give opinions and advice on constitutional and legal matters to the prime minister and other government authorities.

Dinamani Pokharel, an advocate close to the prime minister, now holds the position.

The Congress has been claiming that Lamichhane is involved in misusing deposits worth millions of rupees in Surya Darshan Cooperative of Pokhara, Sahara Cooperative of Chitwan and Supreme Cooperative of Butwal.

Holding a press meet on Tuesday, Ramesh Lekhak, the Congress chief whip, had claimed the OAG had time and again been used in Lamichhane's defence.

In March last year, the OAG gave Lamichhane a clean chit in the case of possession of two passports—of Nepal and the US.

As per the report submitted to the Nepal Police, the Office of the Attorney General has decided that there is no need to file a case against Lamichhane for possessing two passports.

As a complaint was filed against Lamichhane, the Nepal Police had conducted an investigation against the deputy prime minister for holding dual passports and whether he had misused them.

But the Nepal Police stated that as the old Nepali citizenship Lamichhane obtained had already been deactivated, there was no need to file a case. On the basis of his old citizenship, Lamichhane had obtained his Nepali passport from the Nepali Embassy in Washington DC on May 27, 2015.

At the time of obtaining the Nepali passport, he was a US citizen. Lamichhane obtained US citizenship in 2014, and left the US in 2018. As per the Passport Act, an attempt to get a passport by providing false information is a criminal offence.

Lamichhane also obtained a US passport on March 5, 2014.

While returning to Nepal in October 2017, he had applied to visit the country on a “relative’s visa” where he had mentioned his nationality as “US citizen”.

The OAG had claimed it did not find any evidence to suggest that Lamichhane had misused the Nepali passport obtained in 2015. He had also not used the Nepali passport while travelling abroad, it said.