Apr 22, Kathmandu-  The Supreme Court is hearing a habeas corpus writ filed demanding the release of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, who is in custody in a cooperative fraud case.

The case has been listed as the first case in the bench of Justice Abdul Aziz Musalman. Earlier, the case was scheduled for hearing in the bench of Justice Hari Phuuyal on Monday, but the date has been postponed to today after he did not attend the hearing saying he was 'unable to attend'.

Ravi's wife Nikita Poudel had filed a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court on Sunday, demanding his release. The petition claims that Ravi has been illegally detained. In the Supreme Cooperative fraud case of Rupandehi, the district court had ordered Ravi to be released on a bail of Rs 10 million. However, the Tulsipur, Butwal bench of the High Court had overturned that order on Chaitra 22 and ordered him to be detained. Since then, he is currently in Rupandehi Jail.

As the process of overturning the High Court's decision seems to be lengthy, Ravi has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court, demanding his immediate release. Along with this, he has also filed a separate petition against the High Court's order. After the preliminary hearing, the Supreme Court has ordered the production of the relevant documents. 42 people, including Ravi, have been made defendants in the Supreme Cooperative case. They are accused of defrauding about Rs 550 million.

According to the indictment, Ravi Lamichhane, Chhabi Rana and GB Rai established Gorkha Media Pvt. Ltd. and illegally spent Rs 109.9 million through the same company. Of them, GB Rai is currently absconding, while Chhabi Rana has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the detention order. The Supreme Court has also ordered the production of the complaint report in his petition.