The Supreme Court on Sunday ordered Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane and Attorney General Dinmani Pokharel to explain a letter from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The OAG letter, issued on May 6, stated that Lamichhane has no cases related to cooperatives fraud in Nepal’s courts.

After a preliminary hearing on a petition by advocate Anupam Bhattarai, who has demanded that the letter should be scrapped, the court also summoned the plaintiffs and defendants on June 10 to discuss the matter before deciding whether to issue an interim order demanded by the petitioner.

In his petition, Bhattarai has also demanded that Lamichhane be suspended from his Cabinet positions for the duration of the investigation into cooperatives fraud to prevent him from influencing the probe.

A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha has also ordered them to produce the OAG letter as well as a complaint lodged against Lamichhane in the District Police Office, Kaski, in relation to the embezzlement of funds from the Suryadarshan Cooperative.

“The defendants are ordered to be present in the court on June 10 along with the OAG’s letter issued on May 6 and the complaint filed at District Police Office Kaski on February 5,” reads the order. The court has prioritised the case.

Lamichhane and Pokharel have 15 days to furnish their written clarifications as per the court order.

In his petition Bhattarai has also claimed that the OAG has no authority to issue such a letter and therefore it should be scrapped.

Depositors of the Suryadarshan Cooperatives, including Krishna Prasad Jaisi, had on February 5 filed a supplementary complaint naming Lamichhane in the embezzlement. However, the OAG issuing a letter four months later has claimed there are no cases against the minister.

"The court has ordered the presentation of the OAG's letter and the police complaint to ascertain the truth behind the OAG’s claim," said Bhattarai.

At Lamichhane’s request, the OAG on May 6 issued the letter in favour of the home minister, who also chairs the Rastriya Swatantra Party. Two weeks ago, advocate Bhattarai moved the top court challenging the letter. However, the court administration refused to register the petition.

Bhattarai then moved the Supreme Court challenging the court administration’s refusal to register his petition. After a hearing, a single bench of Justice Tek Prasad Dhungana directed the administration to register the petition.

The petition was filed on May 30.

The OAG has on different occasions favoured Lamichhane by taking decisions in his favour.

On March 20 last year, the OAG had given a clean chit to Lamichhane saying there is no need to file a case against him for simultaneously holding passports of Nepal and the United States.

In the May 6 letter, it said that there were no fraud cases registered against Lamichhane in Rupandehi, Chitwan and Kaski districts. Talking to the Post, officials had claimed they issued the letter as per the request from Lamichhane respecting his right to information.

However, the move was widely criticised as an attempt to give a clean chit to Lamichhane in the cooperative scam. He has been criticised for using state machinery to shield himself.

The court has intervened in the cooperative fraud case at a time when Parliament is also investigating the matter.

A seven-member committee led by CPN-UML’s Surya Thapa has been constituted to investigate the cooperative scam.

The committee is tasked with investigating credit cooperatives including those whose deposits were transferred to run the Gorkha Media Network (when Lamichhane served as its managing director) and other organisations.

Ideal Yamuna Multipurpose Cooperative, Image Saving and Credit Cooperative, Sahara Saving and Cooperative, Samanata Saving and Credit Cooperative, Sano Paila Saving and Credit Cooperative, Supreme Saving and Credit Cooperative, Suryadarshan Saving and Credit Cooperative, Sumeru Saving and Credit Cooperative, and Swarnalaxmi Saving and Credit Cooperative are the ones that injected money into the Gorkha Media Network.