RUPANDEHI:- The Rupandehi District Court has withdrawn the charges of organized crime and money laundering against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane. Along with Rabi, GV Rai, Kumar Ramtel and others involved in the case have also been acquitted of all charges other than cooperative fraud.
Earlier, the Kaski and Parsa district courts had withdrawn charges other than cooperative fraud. Cases against Ravi were pending in five courts across the country. Four of them included cooperative fraud, as well as organized crime and money laundering cases. Now, only these two cases remain in Kathmandu. The cooperative fraud case is pending in all five courts.
On Monday, a bench of Rupandehi District Court Judge Ramesh Kant Adhikari ordered the withdrawal of the two charges added after the cooperative fraud case was kept intact. With the Rupandehi District Court’s order, the accused, including Ravi Lamichhane, have cleared the way for a settlement in the case by ensuring the return of the money lost by the victims.
On Magh 13, 2081, (January 25, 2026), a bench of Rupandehi District Court Judge Prahlad Kumar Yogi ordered the release of Ravi on a bail of Rs 10 million, while Chhabi was sent to custody for trial. But after the government attorney’s office appealed against that order, the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court ordered Lamichhane to be remanded in custody on Chaitra 22, 2081, (April 4, 2025). Overturning the Rupandehi District Court order, a joint bench of Justices Ramesh Dhakal and Santhiya Parajuli of the Tulsipur High Court ordered Ravi to be remanded in custody.
Chairman Lamichhane was ordered to be sent to jail for fraud and organized crime related to the Supreme Cooperative Society of Butwal. The High Court has upheld the district court’s order to send another accused in the same case, former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, to jail. After this, Ravi was in jail for a long time. While he was in jail, he moved forward for hearing in various courts.
On 2082 Paush 3, (December 18, 2025), the Tulsipur High Court, Butwal bench ordered the release of Lamichhane on bail. He was released as soon as the bench of Chief Justice Vasudev Acharya and Justice Tej Narayan Poudel of the court made the order. The high court had demanded a bail of Rs 27.484 crore equivalent to the amount. He was released from custody after paying the amount demanded by the high court.
