Rabi Lamichhane, the president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and former home minister, was produced to four district courts when separate cases were registered against him for alleged embezzlement of cooperatives funds. However, he has yet to be presented to the Parsa district court.

Almost one month after Lamichhane was presented to the Chitwan District Court on February 5, the case against him has not proceeded in Parsa district.

Lamichhane was arrested from the party office on October 18 and held for 84 days, mainly under the remand of Kaski district police.

On January 9, the Kaski district court released him on a bail of Rs6.5 million. The freedom was granted on the condition that he appears in person for proceedings related to cases filed against him in other district courts.

Soon after his release, Lamichhane appeared in the Kathmandu, Chitwan and Rupandehi district courts, as police in the districts had filed cases against him on similar charges.

Lamichhane is accused of defrauding the depositors of Suryadarshan Cooperative in Kaski, Swarnalaxmi Cooperative in Kathmandu, Supreme Cooperative in Butwal, Sahara Cooperative in Chitwan, and Sano Paila Cooperative in Parsa.

The four district courts where Lamichhane was produced set bail amounts before his release, totalling Rs27.9 million.

Parsa Police submitted the investigation report regarding the accused, including Lamichhane, to the District Government Attorney’s Office, one-and-a-half months ago, said a police officer in Parsa. Further investigation is said to be ongoing as per the instruction to conduct additional inquiries on a few specific matters.

The officers said that under the command of Deputy Superintendent of Police Subash Bhatta, they are investigating Lamichhane further for his alleged involvement in defrauding cooperatives depositors.

“Once our department completes the further investigation as instructed, we will submit our report to the District Government Attorney’s Office, Parsa,” said the police officer on the condition of anonymity.

The first case against Lamichanne in Parsa was filed on October 10, 2023, followed by a supplementary complaint on February 14, 2024.

However, RSP lawmakers doubt the government’s intention not to proceed with the case against Lamichhane in Parsa district. It has been almost a month since Lamichhane last appeared in the Chitwan District Court. When they visited, the government was not taking his case forward in Parsa, and there were many questions over the government’s motive.

“We see two reasons behind the Parsa District Court not submitting its report to the District Attorney’s Office, which would then file a case against Lamichhane in the court,” said Sishir Khanal, a lawmaker of the party and member of the parliamentary special committee investigating the embezzlement of depositor funds by various cooperatives. “When all four courts have released Lamichhane on bail, we sense that the government intends to linger his case in Parsa district.”

If the verdict of the Parsa court does not come in favour of the government, the suspension of Lamichhane’s lawmaker position should be revoked, RSP lawmakers argue. “If not, our party will knock on the Supreme Court’s door. This could be the reason why the government has been delaying Lamichhane’s case,” Khanal said.

But Parsa District Government Attorney’s Office spokesperson Bholanath Niraula denies the allegation.

“The investigation into the embezzlement of funds from a cooperative institution involving former home minister Lamichhane in Parsa district was not deliberately prolonged,” Niraula said. “It has been delayed because the police are still investigating the case.”

On May 28 last year, after months of disruption, Parliament formed a special committee headed by CPN-UML lawmaker Surya Thapa to probe the misappropriation of cooperatives funds, giving it a three-month tenure.

After the committee submitted its report in the second week of September, the government decided to implement the panel’s recommendations.

The report had stated that Lamichhane was linked to the misuse of millions of rupees from various cooperatives when he was the managing director of the now-defunct Gorkha Media Network prior to launching a new party in June 2022. The report also holds several others responsible for cooperative scams.

Along with Lamichhane, the committee recommends action against others implicated in the embezzlement of cooperatives funds.

The report said that over Rs63 billion was embezzled by managers from various crisis-ridden cooperatives. It recommended prosecuting four individuals, including Lamichhane, then-managing director of Gorkha Media Network; chairman Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai of the company; board member Kumar Ramtel; and initial founder Chhabi Lal Joshi, who is also a retired deputy inspector general of Nepal Police. Lamichhane and the others have denied any wrongdoing. GB Rai is absconding.