KATHMANDU: A hearing has been scheduled for the petitions filed against Attorney General Sabita Bhandari’s decision to amend the charge sheets related to money laundering and organized crime involving Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane and others.

The case has been listed for a hearing before a joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Shreekanth Paudel.

Previously, a single bench led by Justice Abdulaziz Musalman had demanded a written response from the Office of the Attorney General. The court set the hearing date following the receipt of that response.

Earlier, on January 22, the case was scheduled before a bench of Justices Sharma and Bal Krishna Dhakal. However, the hearing was postponed after Judge Dhakal retracted himself from the case.

Separate petitions were filed on January 18 by Yuvraj Safal, Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi, and Advocate Abhash Regmi, among others.

On January 14, Attorney General Sabita Bhandari had decided to amend the charge sheets filed in the District Courts of Kaski, Kathmandu, Rupandehi, and Parsa against those involved in the cooperative fraud case, including Lamichhane.

Bhandari’s decision directed that the ‘organized crime’ and ‘money laundering’ claims would no longer stand in those cases.