Kathmandu [Nepal], January 9 (ANI): The Kaski District Court in Kathmandu on Thursday granted bail to former Nepal Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, in the ongoing cooperative scam case.

District Court Kaski Judge Nitij Rai issued the order on Thursday evening, following a week-long closed-door hearing that involved detailed arguments from both the plaintiff and the defence.

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"The court has set the bail amount to 6.5 million (Nepali) rupees," Information Officer of Kaski District Court, Suraj Adhikari confirmed ANI over the phone.

Lamichhane has been facing cases in Kathmandu, Butwal and Chitwan involving the case of a cooperative scam. Though the Kaski District Court has granted him bail, Lamichhane won't be released from jail.

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However, the ex-Home Minister will remain in police custody and will have to visit the court on specified dates as cases of embezzlement have been filed in Butwal (Supreme Cooperative), Chitwan (Sahara Cooperative), Kathmandu (Swarnalaxmi Cooperative) and Parsa (Sano Paila Cooperative). In the district, Lamichhane has been accused of diverting deposits to Gorkha Media Network which ran the now-defunct Galaxy 4K Television.

Lamichhane was arrested from his party office in Kathmandu on October 18 last year by a team from the Central Investigation Bureau on charges of organized crime and misappropriation of cooperative funds.

On December 22, 2024, the Kaski District Police formally lodged the case against Lamichhane in cases of fraud, organised crime and money laundering. The District Government Attorney's Office filed the charge sheet against Lamichhane and others at the Kaski District Court in connection with the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case.

He is accused of illegally amassing over Rs 270 million, with the money allegedly originating from Surya Darshan Savings and Loan Cooperative. The case also alleges that Lamichhane has not disclosed the source of NRs 278,944,705 which is considered to be of illicit origin.

Lamichhane's post as a Member of Parliament also has been suspended after the District Attorney's Office filed a case of organized crime and money laundering.

The former Home Minister and founder of RSP, the fourth largest party in the parliament has denied the charges of charges of money laundering, cooperative fraud, and organized crime in his statement to the Kaski District Police.

In the year 2024, a special inquiry by a parliamentary committee formed to investigate the cooperative scam which had prepared and tabled a report in the parliament on September 16, 2024, indicted Lamichhane in embezzlement of millions of rupees as a part of the cooperative scam.

The seven-member committee formed on May 28 last year was tabled on the parliament which was formally endorsed by the house session. The report concludes that millions of rupees injected to Gorkha Media came from cooperatives which were traded on the basis of forged documents.

Former Home Minister Lamichhane had worked in Gorkha Media, the parent company of now-defunct Galaxy 4K Television, as managing director at the time when cooperative savings were invested violating cooperative legislation. The incumbent parliamentarian also clarified that he was engaged in Gorkha Media taking sweat share.

Lamichhane later in the year 2022 entered politics announcing the formation of Rashtriya Swatantra Party and entered the federal parliament as a parliamentarian contesting the election the same year. The television's failure to pay salaries to its staff shut its formal operation since last year.

The committee in its report also recommended the government to take legal action against everyone involved in the transfer of money to Gorkha Media from various cooperatives. Millions of rupees were inducted into Gorkha Media from various cooperatives Suryadarshan from Pokhara, Supreme from Butwal, Swarnalaxmi from Kathmandu, Sahara Chitwan from Chitwan and Sanopaila from Birgunj.

The report has stated that the embezzlement of amounts was completed with the active involvement of GB Rai, Kumar Ramtel, Rabi Lamichhane (then managing director), and Chhabi Lal Joshi. Rai and Lamichhane had operated a joint account in a bank and had issued cheques amounting to millions which shows his involvement, the committee report includes.

"Every company has its own objective and spirit. Promoters and shareholders are the ones with main responsibilities in such institutions. Those in the role and responsibility as shareholders, promoters and managing director cannot be allowed to not be responsible and accountable for the money received by the company," the report stressed.

During the investigation, the committee also held an inquiry session with former Home Minister and incumbent Chairperson of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Lamichhane for over 10 hours. Throughout the inquiry session, he claimed to be unaware that the transfers that were made to the Gorkha Media originated from cooperatives, that too savings of about 50, 000 people.

Further arguing over the case, Lamichhane also claimed that Rabi Lamichhane who had borrowed money from Suryadarshan and Supreme Cooperatives also to be someone not in his knowledge. The committee had asked him a set of 50 questions about his alleged involvement in the scam.

Following the tabling and endorsement of the report, House Speaker Devraj Ghimire directed the government to implement the report of the parliamentary special inquiry committee formed to investigate the misappropriation of savings of cooperatives. Speaker Ghimire then directed the Parliament Secretariat to send the report to the government for implementation.

The HoR had formed the committee headed by CPN-UML lawmaker Thapa on May 28, 2024, after the Nepali Congress demanded the formation of a parliamentary investigation committee saying Rashtriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane, who was then deputy prime minister and home minister, was involved in the misappropriation of cooperative savings. The HoR had initially given the committee three months and later extended its tenure by 15 days.

Dilendra Badu of Nepali Congress, Ishwari Neupane, Sabitra Bhusal of UML, Lekhnath Dahal of CPN (Maoist Center), Shishir Khanal of RSP, and Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan of Rastriya Prajatantra Party were members of the parliamentary committee. (ANI)

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