Kaski court orders for releasing Lamichhane on a bail of Rs 65 million

KATHMANDU, JANUARY 9 : The District Court of Kaski granted bail to Ravi Lamichhane, the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), on Thursday, setting the amount at 65 million rupees. Lamichhane was arrested on October 18th  from the RSP's central office in Kathmandu by police and taken to Kaski for investigation into charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering.

A parliamentary investigation committee had previously recommended action against Lamichhane, then the managing director of Gorakha Media, for allegedly misappropriating funds from Pokhara's Suryadarshan Cooperative.

This recommendation followed continuous obstruction of the House of Representatives by the Nepali Congress, who accused Lamichhane of involvement in the cooperative fraud. A parliamentary investigation committee was subsequently formed on May 18, which ultimately recommended action against Lamichhane. The cabinet endorsed this recommendation, prompting the police investigation.

Upon completing their investigation, the Kaski District Attorney's Office filed a case in the District Court of Kaski on January 22. The prosecution sought a significant compensation of 33.76 million rupees from Lamichhane for the alleged cooperative fraud and an additional 278.94 million rupees for unexplained assets, citing the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2064.