Kathmandu: After nearly three months of prolonged trial, Kaski District Court ordered the release of Former Home Minister and Chair of Rashtriya Swatantra Party Rabi Lamichhane on 6.5 million rupees bail Thursday evening.
Lamichhane, the RSP leader who served as the home minister for two terms in UML-Maoist Center coalition governments was arrested from Kathmandu on October 18 on charge of cooperative funds misuse and was taken to Pokhara (Kaski). Later, police filed additional two cases against him, money laundering and organized crime.
He was moved out to different districts–Rupandehi, Kathmandu, Chitwan among others–to record his statements for the investigation. On December 5, Lamichhane was abruptly transferred from custody in Chitwan to Pokhara during the middle of the night, the move that many criticised as the violation of human rights of Lamichhane.
Many experts and observers had raised questions on the intention of the government to prolong the trial against Lamichhane. They had begun to voice concerns about ‘a clear case of political vendetta’ by ruling CPN-UML and Nepali Congress against the chair of the party that emerged as a force to reckon with in a short span of time.
[Related: Voices being raised against ‘unfair trial’ on former home minister Rabi Lamichhane]
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