KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has decided not to hear the habeas corpus petition filed by Rabi Lamichhane, President of the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

The petition was presented before a bench of Justices Sunil Kumar Pokharel and Balkrishna Dhakal on Sunday.

In addition, a cooperative fraud case involving Rabi Lamichhane and Chhabilal Joshi, filed based on the complaint of Narayan Paharai, was also presented before the same bench. Both cases were listed under the “not to be heard” category.

The reason for the cases being placed on this list is that these judges had previously been involved in the hearing of issues related to Rabi Lamichhane.

On Baisakh 7 (April 20), Rabi Lamichhane’s wife, Nikita Paudel, filed a habeas corpus petition, claiming that Lamichhane was being held illegally in custody.

On Baisakh 9 (April 22), a single bench of Justice Abdul Aziz Musalman issued a show-cause order to the government.

In the case involving the misappropriation of funds from Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative in Butwal, the Rupandehi District Court had granted Lamichhane bail of 10 million rupees.

However, the High Court of Tulsipur reversed this decision, ordering Lamichhane to be remanded in custody for further proceedings. As a result, Lamichhane is currently being held at the Bhairahawa Prison.