Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman and former home minister Rabi Lamichhane on Monday moved the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court, challenging the Rupandehi District Court’s order to seek bail for his release in the Supreme Cooperative fraud and organised crime case.

He is facing a hearing on the case at the Rupandehi District Court today.

On January 26, a bench of Judge Pralhad Kumar Yogi of the Rupandehi District Court ordered authorities to release Lamichhane on a bail of Rs10 million on the condition that he appear on the scheduled dates. Forty-four days later, Lamichhane has now filed an appeal against this order at the high court. The District Government Attorney’s Office has also appealed to the high court, arguing that Lamichhane should remain in custody.

According to Lamichhane’s lawyer Pashupati Bhandari, he filed a petition at the Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court, seeking to annul the district court’s order.

In the same case, former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and ex-director of Gorkha Media Network, Chhabilal Joshi, filed a petition with the Tulsipur High Court on February 12, challenging the district court’s decision to send him to judicial custody in the case. During a preliminary hearing on the case, the court ordered to present files before the bench.

Meanwhile, Lamichhane appeared at the Rupandehi District Court on Monday for a hearing, according to court registrar Yagyamurti Gyawali.

The fraud case involves accusations of embezzlement by both Lamichhane and Joshi, with claims of Rs20 million transferred to Lamichhane’s personal account and Rs25 million transferred to Joshi’s. An audit report has revealed that a sum of Rs109.936 million was deposited into various accounts of Gorkha Media Network. The statement given by Lamichhane, claiming that Joshi had raised capital ranging from Rs5 million to Rs12 million for the media company, was also used by the District Judge as a basis. The chargesheet mentions the joint liability of Lamichhane, Joshi, and Rai for the Rs109.936 million channelled into Gorkha Media Network.

Lamichhane has been released on bail, while Joshi remains in custody for further investigation.

Joshi had previously been released on bail of Rs8.8 million in a case involving the Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara and Rs5 million in a fraud case related to the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative in Kathmandu. Additionally, a case has been registered against him in the Bharatpur-based Sahara Cooperative fraud case. Lamichhane, on the other hand, was released on bail in several cases such as Rs6.5 million in the Kaski-based Suryadarshan Cooperative case, Rs6 million in the Swarnalakshmi case in Kathmandu, Rs10 million in the Supreme Cooperative case, and Rs5.4 million in the Sahara Cooperative case in Chitwan.

The Supreme Cooperative case, which involved 28 defendants, including GB Rai, was registered in April last year with a claim of Rs860 million in damages. Among the 28 defendants, 17 individuals now face additional charges.