Lamichhane might be barred from electoral politics for life

The Supreme Court on Friday scrapped Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane’s status as a member of the House of Representatives.

Lamichhane handed his resignation to Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal. Resigning as the minister, he said that he accepts the court’s verdict.

Advocate Rabiraj Basaula had filed a case against Lamichhane in the Supreme Court.

He  also stepped down from the president post of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which he formed seven months ago. RSP became the fourth largest party in Parliament after the November 20 elections.

The Constitutional Bench said that his failure to re-acquire Nepali citizenship after renouncing his United States citizenship prevented him from becoming a national lawmaker.

The verdict read, “After renouncing the US citizenship, Lamichhane was not found adhering to the legal process to acquire the Nepali citizenship again. So, he did not deserve to be the candidate of the member of House of Representatives nor could hold the lawmaker’s post.

This is the first-ever historic decision by the Supreme Court regarding citizenship.

Clause 11 of the regulations to the Citizenship Act says the person who has renounced the foreign citizenship should submit an application to the Ministry of Home Affairs or the District Administration Office.

The Court not just took away the posts of Lamichhane, it also opened the door for his criminal investigation.

In 1994 Lamichhane received Nepali citizenship by descent. In March 2014(after 20 years) , he acquired American Citizenship.

So as per the Citizenship Act, he automatically lost the Nepali citizenship after receiving American citizenship.

Lamichhane returned back to Nepal in June 2014 and then in May next year.

Though Lamichhane in 2018 renounced his American citizenship, he didn’t apply to revive his Nepali citizenship.

In May 2015, he acquired a Nepali passport by using the citizenship he got in 1994, even though the citizenship certificate had been automatically invalidated in March 2014.

So, it is clearly seen that Lamichhane misused the citizenship and passport laws in addition to treason.

It is said that he committed serious crimes against the state by becoming the deputy prime minister and home minister even though he is not a Nepali citizen legally.

According to section 21 of the Passport Act, one who receives or attempts to get a passport or travel documents by submitting false details can be fined Rs200,000 to half a million rupees and imprisoned for one to three years or both.

If Lamichhane is found guilty, he might be barred from electoral politics for life.

Section 13 of the Act relating to the House of Representatives formation makes a person guilty of misuse of passport ineligible to contest elections. There are similar provisions relating to National Assembly and provincial assembly elections.

Rabi Lamichhane, a former television personality rose into politics in the 2022 general elections. Before the election, a writ petition was filed against him claiming he wasn’t a Nepali citizen asking the Election Commission to void his candidacy.

His rise and fall which is clearly seen puts his party into considerable uncertainty, since he was the popular founder of the party and it was on his coat-tails that many RSP candidates won the elections, securing 20 seats in Parliament.

Lamichhane had contested and won election of the House of Representatives (HoR) with a huge margin from Chitwan constituency 2.