KATHMANDU, Jan 24: Eight government lawyers presented their arguments on behalf of the plaintiffs during the detention hearing against Rabi Lamichhane, the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who faces supplementary charges in the Butwal-based Supreme Cooperative fraud case.
The lawyers from the plaintiff's side argued on their behalf. On Thursday, the statement-recording of Lamichhane was completed by the government attorney. On Friday, one lawyer from the plaintiffs’ side will argue. After the argument from the victims’ side, the defense lawyers will present their arguments regarding Lamichhane’s detention on Friday, as said by the registrar of the Rupandehi District Court, Yagya Murti Gyawali.
A case of cooperative fraud and organized crime was registered in the Rupandehi District Court last Sunday against Lamichhane, who faces accusations of being involved in the embezzlement of the savings of Supreme Cooperative of Butwal through Gorkha Media Network. Lamichhane himself appeared in court on Wednesday for the detention hearing. The detention hearing began on Thursday after his statement recording concluded on Wednesday.
Complaint filed against Judge Rai for granting Rabi Lamichhane...
The detention argument against Lamichhane is underway at the bench of District Court Judge Prahlad Kumar Yogi. On Thursday, Somkant Bhandari, assistant attorney of the High Government Attorney Office, Butwal, deputy attorneys Rabi Neupane and Prakash Marasini, District Attorney Prem Raj Poudel, and assistant attorneys Gokarna Raj Ghimire, Basanta Pokharel, Sunil Lamichhane, and Pabitra Bhandari argued on behalf of the plaintiff. Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi also argued on behalf of the plaintiff.
Before starting the detention hearing, the government lawyers raised questions about Judge Yogi's impartiality, for releasing Lamichhane on bail and demanded that the detention hearing not be held. Government lawyers have raised questions against Judge Yogi, citing the provision that the defendants who appear in court for detention purposes in criminal cases should be kept in judicial custody and pointed out that releasing the defendant on bail was contrary to previous precedents.
The court source said that after some debate on the same issue, the detention hearing began late. The government lawyer, who participated in the detention hearing, said, “In a criminal case, the defendant should be handed over to the police, but it was wrong to hand him over to his wife. We do not have faith that someone handed over to their wife will be kept in custody tomorrow. Therefore, we told the honorable judge that another judge should look into this matter, but he insisted that he would handle it and issue a written order.” Due to this dispute, the detention hearing only started around 12 PM.
The government prosecutor and the plaintiff's lawyers presented evidence that clearly demonstrated that defendant Lamichhane had deliberately and systematically misappropriated millions of rupees deposited by thousands of depositors of Supreme Cooperative through Gorkha Media Network. Tripathi, who argued on behalf of the plaintiffs, said that the court did not speak about the assault on him in Kathmandu.
On Friday, Surendra Bhandari will present the argument on behalf of the plaintiff. Immediately afterward, the defense lawyers will present their arguments. According to RSP sources, Sushil Pant, Raman Shrestha, Rajendra Sedi, Suraj Basnet, and others will argue on behalf of Lamichhane. Additionally, lawyers such as Narayan Datt Kandel, Sunita Raut, Surendra Thapa, and Sanjay Gole are also in Bhairahawa with Lamichhane. Only four or five lawyers are preparing to argue on behalf of Lamichhane, with the aim of completing the closed arguments on Friday as soon as possible.
In the Supreme Cooperative's savings fraud case, a supplementary charge sheet on charges of cooperative fraud and organized crime was filed last Sunday against 22 individuals, including Lamichhane, former DIG Chhabi Lal Joshi, GB Rai, and others. A total of Rs 555.9 million in compensation has been claimed from these 22 people.
It has been confirmed that a group of Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd owner GB Rai, former DIG Joshi, Lamichhane, Kumar Ramtel and Laxmi Poudel embezzled Rs 109.93 million from Supreme Cooperative in violation of the Cooperatives Act, and an amount of Rs 109.936 million in compensation has also been claimed from the five individuals.
