The writ petition demanding suspension of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane will be decided by a full bench of the Supreme Court after two justices of a division bench passed mutually contradictory rulings on the petition.

Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla ruled that whether to resign or continue as a minister is Lamichhane’s personal choice. She, however, directed the home minister to allow his subordinate offices to investigate cases relating to the cooperatives’ fraud impartially and independently. Malla has also asked the Attorney General’s Office to closely monitor if the investigations are being properly conducted.

Stating that there are no laws to address the issues of conflict of interest, Malla has also directed the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to take an initiative to draft such a law.

Passing a dissenting ruling, Sharanga Subedi, another justice in the division bench, issued a mandamus order against Lamichhane to clear the way for a fair investigation ensuring that the culprits are brought before law and the victims get justice. She has also ruled that it is justified for the deputy minister and minister for home affairs to step down even from the viewpoint of constitutional morality.

Advocate Anupam Bhattarai on May 29 lodged a writ petition at the top court challenging the decision of the Attorney General’s Office to issue a letter stating that Lamichhane has no cases against him related to cooperatives funds misappropriation. His petition demanded three rulings. First, scrap the letter issued without any legal basis. Second, direct the OAG not to issue such letters in the future and suspend Lamichhane from his position for the duration of the investigation on the cooperatives scam.

While both the justices have refused to scrap the letter, their opinion is divided on whether the OAG should issue such a letter. Malla said except when barred by the law, it is the responsibility of the public offices to give every information the public demand respecting their constitutional authority to know. However, Subedi has said there are legitimate expectations in the constitution and the Right to Information Act (on what kind of information to disseminate) which has been breached both in (Lamichhane) demanding and (the OAG) disseminating the information.

“As [Lamichhane’s] sole objective was to obtain information for his defence, it cannot be believed that the information was sought in good faith,” says the ruling.

Govinda Prasad Ghimire, spokesperson at Supreme Court, said as the two-member bench was divided on the verdict, the case will now be heard by a larger bench. “A three member full bench will hear the matter again before passing the final verdict,” he told the Post.

At Lamichhane’s request, the OAG on May 7 issued another letter saying there were no fraud cases registered against him in Rupandehi, Chitwan and Kaski districts. The move was widely criticised as an attempt to give a clean chit to Lamichhane in fraud cases. He has been accused of using state machinery to shield himself, prompting Bhattarai to move the top court.

After the preliminary hearing, the Supreme Court on June 1 sought a written clarification from Lamichhane and Attorney General Dinmani Pokharel on the matter. The court on June 10 ordered authorities to present the file related to a cooperative fraud case filed at the Rupandehi District Court. A division bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Til Prasad Sharma had sought the case file against Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai and others to be submitted by June 18.

Rai, who was the chairman of the Gorkha Media Network, is accused of illegally transferring Rs300 million from Kaski-based Surya Darshan Cooperative, Rs110.71 million from Chitwan-based Sahara Cooperative, and Rs100.74 million from Supreme Cooperative in Butwal, without providing any collateral.

Lamichhane, a former television host and managing director of a television channel co-founded by Rai, has been accused of embezzling tens of millions of rupees in collusion with Rai.

The division bench passed the verdict after a final hearing for four days.