Nov 07, Kathmandu - The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has claimed that the state has taken political revenge by filing a case against its president, Rabi Lamichhane, for fraud related to cooperatives.

In a political report presented by acting president DP Aryal at an extended meeting of the central committee in Chitwan starting Friday, the RSP has claimed that the charges against Lamichhane are premeditated and vindictive. The RSP has mentioned six facts in its report that indicate revenge.

The RSP has alleged that the government has conspiratorially used the Cooperatives Act to prosecute the case despite the report of the Parliamentary Special Investigation Committee recommending action under the prevailing law (Companies Act). The RSP has considered this as the first evidence of political bias.

Similarly, the government has generally understood the recommendations of 14 out of the 15 parliamentary special committees formed since 2054, but the RSP claims that the fact that only the recommendation against Lamichhane was approved by the cabinet and implemented for the first time in history is an example of retaliation.

Similarly, the report states that during the investigation, the first charge of cooperative fraud, then of organized crime with a 60-day prison sentence, and then of money laundering with a 90-day prison sentence to suspend the MP's post was another series of conspiracies.

In addition, the RSP report states that the division of the investigation into districts instead of the Central Investigation Bureau is also a political vendetta.

Similarly, Congress MP Maya Rai, Congress Vice President Dhanraj Gurung, and the wife of UML leader Rishikesh Pokharel, who were involved in the same case, were given normal interrogation or easy immunity, but President Lamichhane was treated harshly, according to the RSP. This is a clear example of political vendetta, according to the RSP.

Similarly, the RSP alleges that although there is a legal provision that a case should be registered within 90 days of the filing of a complaint under the Cooperatives Act, the case was registered in Kaski only after the deadline had passed. This not only confirms the legal principle but also the bad intentions, the report states.

Similarly, the RSP alleges that the police went to the house within minutes of the High Court's decision to send him to detention and made a mockery of the rule of law by asking for his 'last wishes' and issuing three different documents from the time of his arrest to his submission to the court.

Presenting these facts, the RSP has expressed its awareness of the overall conspiracy against Chairman Lamichhane and the party and its commitment to continue its political and legal resistance. Lamichhane is currently in Nakhu Prison awaiting trial on charges of cooperative fraud.