High Court halts hearing, seeks case files in Lamichhane lawsuit

KATHMANDU: The High Court Pokhara has ordered the retrieval of case files in the lawsuit against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.

The court has demanded all related documents, including the initial prosecution files registered at the Kaski District Court and supplementary prosecution documents submitted later.

A joint bench of Chief Judge Dr. Ratna Bahadur Bagchand and Judge Milan Kumar Rai issued the order on Sunday, halting the ongoing hearing immediately after deciding to retrieve the documents.

Earlier on Friday, the court had sent a notice to Lamichhane and other defendants informing them about the court appearance. However, Lamichhane’s legal team objected, claiming they had not been properly notified before the hearing. Following the objection, the court postponed the hearing and ordered the retrieval of the full case file.

According to court sources, the notice sent by the court lacked the signatures of both Ravi Lamichhane and Chhabilal Joshi, which raised concerns.

After receiving a response from Rupandehi Prison stating that the defendants had not signed the notice, the court has now instructed the prison authorities to clarify why the defendants were not informed about the court date.