INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14Two writ petitions were filed against Chair of Rastriya Swatantra Party Rabi Lamichhane in the
Supreme Court, arguing that since Lamichhane is not a citizen of Nepal he does not have the right to contest election or cast vote.
Police initiate probe into Rabi Lamichhane's citizenship
watchdog moves Supreme Court against Special Court's decisions
Lamichhane, who had obtained American citizenship and later renounced it, has been accused of not initiating the process of
getting his Nepali citizenship restored.
Yubaraj Paudel 'Safal' and Raviraj Bataula have filed petitions against
Lamichhane, the Election Commission, and others
Safal said he had challenged the registration of the Rastriya Swatantra Party in the Election Commission since its chair was not a Nepali
citizen, but the EC did not take any action on his complaint
Lamichhane won parliamentary election from Chitwan-2 with a huge margin.Safal said in his petition that Lamichhane, who had obtained his
Nepali citizenship on 23 January 1994, obtained US citizenship on 21 February 2014
However, he renounced his American passport on 28 June 2018, but did not initiate the process of getting his Nepali citizenship restored as
mandated by Section 11 of the Nepal Citizenship Act and Rule 11 of Nepal Citizenship Regulations.The petitioner argued that Lamichhane is
not a Nepali as he did not obtain Nepali citizenship after renouncing his American citizenship.The petitioner also said that Lamichhane
submitted his old Nepali citizenship to the EC to register his political party and to contest the HoR election
The petitioner has urged the court to invalidate Lamichhane's membership of the HoR and the RSP, as well as his status of RSP chair
The petitioner also urged the court to order Kathmandu District Administration to punish Lamichhane for submitting false documents to
contest elections.Both cases will be heard by the constitutional bench of the SC on December 21, said SC Spokesperson Bimal Paudel.RSP
Vice-chair DP Aryal said the EC did not take up the citizenship issue as it was not under its jurisdiction, but since the issue was before
the SC, it should leave it to the apex court.RSP, which had fielded candidates only for parliamentary elections, won seven FPTP seats.A
version of this article appears in the print on December 15, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com