SC hears habeas corpus petition for Lamichhane
Paudel filed the petition on Baisakh 7, claiming that Lamichhane was being held in custody unlawfully.
KATHMANDU: A habeas corpus petition filed at the Supreme Court demanding the release of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane has reached the hearing stage.
The petition, filed by Lamichhane’s wife Nikita Paudel, is currently being heard by a joint bench of Justices Sunil Kumar Pokharel and Balkrishna Dhakal.
Paudel filed the petition on Baisakh 7, claiming that Lamichhane was being held in custody unlawfully.
Following a preliminary hearing, a single bench of Justice Aijaz Musalman on Baisakh 9 issued a show-cause order to the government, demanding a response.
Initially, the petition had named the Prime Minister’s Secretariat as the defendant. However, after the Secretariat refused to accept the court notice, the process was delayed.
On Baisakh 21, the petition was amended to include the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers as the defendant. The court approved this amendment through a joint bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Aijaz Musalman.
The case is linked to the Supreem Savings and Credit Cooperative fraud scandal. The Rupandehi District Court had initially released Lamichhane on bail of Rs 10 million.
However, the High Court in Butwal overturned the lower court’s decision on Chaitra 22, ordering Lamichhane be held in custody pending trial.
Following the high court’s ruling, police detained Lamichhane from Kathmandu the same night.
He was kept at Kathmandu Police Complex for one day and then transferred to judicial custody in Rupandehi for two days before being presented in court.
