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Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to explain its decision to withdraw money laundering and organized crime charges against Rabi Lamichhane, the country’s former Home Minister.
On Tuesday, a single bench of Justice Abdul Aziz Musalman issued a "show cause" order, granting the Attorney General’s Office 15 days to provide a written justification for dropping the high-profile charges. The court also directed Lamichhane to submit a response, either in person or through a legal representative.
"The Attorney General's Office has been ordered to send a response to the writ petition filed within 15 days," Nirajan Pandey, the Supreme Court’s information officer, told OCCRP.
The court’s intervention follows the registration of three writ petitions on Sunday challenging the legality of the Attorney General’s recent move. While the attorney general's office has maintained charges of cooperative fraud against Lamichhane, it amended the case file earlier this month to remove the more serious allegations of organized crime and money laundering.
Petitioners argue the withdrawal violates the rule of law.
"The Attorney General has no right to withdraw the money laundering and organized crime case," advocate and petitioner Youbraj Paudel told OCCRP. "It is unconstitutional and illegal."
Senior Advocate Tikaram Bhattarai said the government’s decision to withdraw the charges now could favor Lamichhane ahead of the March 5 elections. Nepal is heading to polls after last September’s GenZ uprising that toppled the KP Sharma Oli government.
“It looks like the present government intends to ‘clean cheat’ him. If the case is status quo, he will not be able to join the parliament…. By withdrawing the organized crime cases, he can join the parliament through the election, if he wins,” Bhattarai told OCCRP.
Lamichhane is fighting multiple legal battles across Nepal related to the "cooperative scam." While serving as managing director of Gorkha Media Network—which operated Galaxy 4K TV—he is accused of misusing funds from various public savings cooperatives.
The charges were originally filed during former Prime Minister Oli. Lamichhane has long maintained that the inclusion of organized crime and money laundering statutes was politically motivated to derail his rising political career.
Attorney General Sabita Bhandari told OCCRP her office decided to drop the specific charges after reviewing Lamichhane’s application about six weeks ago.
"I felt the earlier government’s intention wasn’t right, [and] that they took revenge on him with the charges," Bhandari said. "That’s why I decided to withdraw the charges on money laundering and organized crime, but the case on cooperative fraud is still there."
She added that because the case involves multiple defendants, the charges against others were also amended to maintain consistency. "I cannot withdraw cases against one person and not others," she said. Lamichhane has "promised to do everything he can to ensure that the victims of cooperative fraud get their money back," Bhandari said.
The case has become a litmus test for political accountability in Nepal. Lamichhane, a former television presenter, rose rapidly in politics. In January 2023, the Supreme Court annulled his parliamentary status and ministerial post after ruling he was technically "stateless" for failing to re-acquire Nepali citizenship after renouncing U.S. nationality. He later re-contested and won a by-election in Chitwan.
The Parsa District Court on Tuesday ordered Lamichhane to post 10 million Nepalese Rupee (nearly $69,000) in connection with a cooperative fund embezzlement case.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments from both sides on January 22, before deciding whether to issue an interim order halting the withdrawal of charges.
