Himal Press 
Rabi Lamichhane's supporters outside Kaski District Court. Photo: Himal Press
POKHARA: Supporters of former Home Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane protested in front of the Kaski District Court on Tuesday as well.
They changed slogans against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa and the government as police escorted Lamichhane to the District Police Office, Kaski, after bail hearing on Tuesday.
Lamichhane used to wave to his supporters while leaving the district court. However, on Tuesday, police didn’t allow Lamichhane to greet his supporters. This infuriated his supporters and they started protesting. Police had to disperse the crowd by charging batons.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Lamichhane have completed their arguments in cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering cases against the RSP President. They argued that charges against Lamichhane should be dismissed as they were filed after the statute of limitations expired; GB Rai, the primary accused in the transfer of funds from the cooperative to Gorkha Media Network, should be produced efore the court; and that Lamichhane was not a member of the cooperative concerned and hence did not misused its deposits. They also claimed that the money laundering and organized crime charges were politically motivated.
Three senior advocates – Sushil Panta, Raman Kumar Shrestha and Surendra Thapa – presented arguments for Lamichhane on Monday, while Senior Advocates Narayan Ghimire, Narayan Kandel, Rohit Raj Bastola, and Advocate Ishwari Poudel presented their arguments on Tuesday, according to the district court’s registrar Rajan Khanal.
Meanwhile, another defendant Ram Bahadur Khanal’s lawyer also presented his argument on Tuesday. According to Registrar Khanal, Ram Bahadur’s lawyers – Birendra KC and Ujjwal Sapkota – will present their arguments on Wednesday, while his third lawyer will present his case on Wednesday.
Lawyers will then present arguments for three other defendants: former Gandaki Province Assembly member Mina Gurung, Krishna Bahadur Gurung and Aarti Gurung.
So far, lawyers for former Gorkha Media Network Director and ex-DIG of Nepal Police Chhabilal Joshi, Lila Pachai, and Rabi Lamichhane have completed their arguments.
After the defense arguments conclude, Deputy Attorney General Govind Raj Gauli from the High Government Attorney Office Pokhara will present the prosecution’s rebuttal.
A single bench of District Judge Nitij Rai will then decide whether to send the seven defendants to judicial custody or release them on bail or general date.
A total of 63 individuals and institutions have been made defendants in the case related to the misuse of deposits of Suryadarshan Cooperative, Pokhara. The District Government Attorney’s Office, Kaski, had initially named 19 defendants in the case. Other defendants were named via supplementary charge sheets filed on December 20 and 22.
Government attorneys have sought to recover Rs 1.51 billion in damages from the defendants.
