KATHMANDU, Jan 13: The hearing of Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rabi Lamichhane, has been prolonged. The debate that started on Monday at the bench of Judge Madhav Prasad Adhikari in the Kathmandu District Court has been extended until Wednesday.
On Monday, only the public prosecutor from plaintiff side and the legal representatives from the complainant side argued in court. Advocates Chandra Prasad Sanjel, Khagendra Raj Pant, Radhika Suwal, and Santosh Raj Katwal have argued on behalf of the public prosecutor.
Subsequently, on behalf of the complainant, Senior Advocate Surendra Bhandari and Dinesh Tripathi advanced their arguments.
On the other hand, the time has not come for the debate of Advocates Raman Shrestha and Sushil Panta, who are ready to argue in favor of Lamichhane.
They had been pressing for an early conclusion to the detention debate from the beginning. Even when Lamichhane appeared in court on Sunday, his lawyers proposed that the debate should start immediately, even if it had to happen overnight. However, since the prosecution lawyers were not ready, the debate only started on Monday.
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On the other hand, there was pressure from the lawyer of Lamichhane’s side to finish the debate early on Monday as well. Accordingly, the debate of only two people was scheduled.
The judge also allocated two hours for the public prosecutor and one and a quarter hours for the lawyers representing Lamichhane. However, no specific time was allocated for the lawyers of the petitioner.
Amid the ongoing arguments when Judge Adhikari tried to provide information about the time, senior advocate Surendra Bhattarai, representing the petitioner, urged not to rush, emphasizing that this was a matter involving thousands of depositors.
“This is a matter of serious fraud in an organized and planned manner involving the savings of thousands of victims,” he said, “In such serious matters, there should be no rush with deadlines.”
“After the order from the court, the police should have arrested and handed him over to Kathmandu. There has been an irregularity in this,” said senior advocate Bhandari, “It has not been the practice to allow a person who doesn't have an arrest warrant to appear on their own. This is wrong.”
On the other hand, Lamichhane’s lawyers had requested not to issue an order to send him into custody again, as was done on Sunday. However, Lamichhane has been sent into custody.
Since the debate could not be concluded on Monday, and Tuesday is a public holiday, the hearing is now postponed until Wednesday.
Lamichhane supporters protest outside court, chant slogans against PM Oli
Lamichhane’s supporters raised provocative slogans against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in front of the court.
On Monday, RSP activists staged a protest outside the Kathmandu District Court, loudly chanting slogans against Prime Minister Oli. The slogans included “KP thief, leave the country” and “Revenge cannot be allowed,” among others.
Due to the debate extending until Wednesday, Lamichhane’s supporters vented their anger by demonstrating in front of the court.
