Kathmandu: The money laundering and organized crime case against Rabi Lamichhane, president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and House of Representatives candidate from Chitwan Constituency No. 2, will not be withdrawn immediately.

On Monday, a bench of Judge Nitish Rai at the Kaski District Court ruled that the case cannot be withdrawn at this stage, citing a writ petition filed at the Supreme Court of Nepal challenging the decision of the Attorney General’s Office.

The Supreme Court has directed that a final decision be made only after its order is communicated to the district court. Earlier, the Rupandehi District Court had also refused to immediately withdraw similar charges against Lamichhane.

The Attorney General’s Office, led by Attorney General Savita Bhandari, had decided on December 10 to withdraw the organized crime and money laundering cases against Lamichhane and other defendants. Following that decision, the District Government Attorney’s Office in Kaski had filed an application seeking withdrawal of the charges.

Lamichhane faces cases related to cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering in district courts of Rupandehi, Kaski, Kathmandu, and Chitwan.