Nepal's Supreme Court declares Deputy PM Rabi Lamichhane's citizenship illegal

Rabi Lamichhane has been disqualified to succeed as the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party while being dismissed from the offices of deputy prime minister and home minister of Nepal.

India Today, New Delhi, Jan 27, 2023: Nepal's Supreme Court has dismissed Rabi Lamichhane from the office of deputy prime Minister and home minister after he was found guilty in a citizenship and passport case. In accordance with the Constitutional bench's orders of their top court, Rabi has also lost his post as a Member of Parliament.

After relinquishing his American citizenship, the court said that all the acts carried out by Rabi as a Nepali citizen would be deemed illegal. The court has held that Rabi Lamichhane used the citizenship that had been revoked without regaining his Nepalese citizenship. Reports suggest that Rabi had given up on his US citizenship in June 2018.

As per Nepalese laws, any citizen of Nepal who voluntarily acquires citizenship of a foreign country shall automatically lose their Nepalese citizenship. And abandoning foreign citizenship calls for a fresh process to avail Nepali citizenship, as per their laws.

According to the plaintiffs in the petition against Rabi's citizenship and eligibility as a lawmaker, he did not apply for his Nepali citizenship afresh. He was accused of not initiating the process to acquire Nepalese citizenship, according to section 11 (Re-acquisition of Nepalese Citizenship) of the Nepal Citizenship Act, 2006.

Apart from stripping his position as a lawmaker, he is disqualified to succeed as the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party.