KATHMANDU: A charge sheet was filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)President Rabi Lamichhane at the Kaski District Court on Sunday.
Following more than two months of investigation following his arrest from RSP’s party office in Kathmandu on October 18, the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kaski, filed charges against Lamichhane under four different laws – Cooperative Act, 2017, Organized Crime Prevention Act 2013, Asset (Money) Laundering Prevention Act, 2008, and the unified offense under Criminal Code, 2017.
Following the money laundering charge, his parliamentary position has been automatically suspended as per Section 27 of the Asset (Money) Laundering Prevention Act, 2008.
Kaski police sent a letter to Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Sunday regarding the suspension of Lamichhane’s parliamentary position. He is an elected member of the House of Representatives from Chitwan-2 constituency.
Lamichhane, who was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the 2022 election and became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, had previously lost his parliamentary seat due to citizenship issues. After resolving his citizenship issues at the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, he contested the by-election and got re-elected from the Chitwan-2 seat.
Now that the charge sheet has been filed against Lamichhane, discussions have begun within RSP circles about who would lead the party. Though RSP leaders have not spoken publicly, they have started internal discussions about party leadership following the charges against the president.
Though Lamichhane has been in custody for over two months, RSP hasn’t appointed an acting president yet. The party had been maintaining that it would appoint an acting president after considering the president’s case.
Many are curious about who will take command of RSP. When Lamichhane lost his position during his citizenship controversy, Vice President DP Aryal had assumed the responsibility of Acting President of the party. As per the RSP’s constitution, a vice president can work as acting president in the president’s absence. At that time, Aryal was the sole vice-president of the party and he was the natural choice for the role.
Since RSP now has two vice presidents – Aryal and Dr Swarnim Wagle, there are speculations over who will assume the party command now. The RSP’s constitution states that either the senior-most vice president or a vice president appointed by the president will get the acting responsibility. “Among two vice-presidents, the senior-most by age or the vice-president appointed by the president shall work as acting president in the president’s absence,” Section 24(3)(2)(D) of the RSP’s constitution states.
Since Dr Wagle is three months older than Aryal, he will assume the role of acting president if the president has not formally made his choice yet. However, though Wagle is senior-most by wage, Aryal has been chairing meetings in Lamichhane’s absence.
RSP’s Acting Spokesperson Manish Jha told Himal Press that the party has yet to begin discussions on this issue. He, however, added that the party will soon hold meetings to decide on both acting president and parliamentary party leader positions. “There are legal provisions for automatic parliamentary suspension when money laundering charges are filed. This has happened according to law,” Jha said. “Now, we will have to name the acting party president and parliamentary party leader.”
Jha said the party will hold meetings within two days to select an acting president and parliamentary party leader as per the party constitution.
When Lamichhane lost his parliamentary seat in the citizenship case, DP Aryal had assumed the responsibility of the acting parliamentary party leader. At that time, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, the parliamentary party deputy leader, was not given the responsibility. President Lamichhane himself had proposed Aryal as parliamentary party leader.
Lamichhane is facing charges of misappropriating savings from Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperative. Government attorneys have claimed damages of Rs 33.76 million from Lamichhane alone. For this offense, the District Government Attorney’s Office has sought a prison term of four to six years.
Lamichhane also faces organized crime charges. The District Government Attorney’s Office has demanded prison sentences of more than three years for this offense.
Similarly, the office has filed money laundering charges against Lamichhane for Rs278.94 million with undisclosed sources. For this offense, double the amount in fines and prison sentences of two to 10 years have been demanded.
The District Attorney’s Office has also demanded additional punishment according to unified offense, arguing that Lamichhane has committed multiple offenses. The office has demanded additional punishment according to Section 43 of the Criminal Code, 2017.
