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A chargesheet has been filed at the Kaski District Court against Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairperson and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, along with five others, accusing them of cooperative fraud, organized crimes and money laundering. The case centers on the alleged embezzlement of funds from the Surya Darshan Cooperative in Pokhara, with claims that a portion of the funds was diverted to Gorkha Media Pvt Ltd.

Chief District Attorney Kamala Kafle stated that the case implicates 44 individuals and organizations. This follows an earlier charge against GB Rai, chairperson of Gorkha Media, and 18 others, bringing the total number of defendants to 63. The damages sought from Lamichhane and his co-defendants amount to approximately Rs 1.51bn.

The government attorney’s office alleges that Lamichhane and his associates operated as an organized group to defraud the cooperative and launder the misappropriated funds. Evidence includes checks issued under the cooperative’s name, linking the funds to Gorkha Media. Lamichhane has denied involvement, claiming that the checks were misused without his consent during his tenure as the managing director of Gorkha Media Network (GMN). However, police investigations revealed loans, including Rs 4.6m each from Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, used to purchase vehicles in the names of Lamichhane and Rai.

A parliamentary panel formed under CPN-UML MP Surya Thapa found funneling of Rs 224.6m from six cooperatives, including Surya Darshan, into GMN. The panel recommended legal action against Lamichhane and others, leading to arrests and ongoing legal proceedings. Lamichhane’s wife, Nikita Poudel, has also been implicated, with allegations of illegally amassing Rs 280m. Four others—Padma Banjade, Rojak Joshi, Radha Pachhai, and Geeta Pachhai—have been named for property confiscation.

Assistant District Attorney Shantidevi Sharma clarified that if their assets are proven to be linked to criminal activities, only the claimed amounts will be seized without additional penalties.

The investigation, based on reports from Pokhara Metropolitan City and a parliamentary committee, exposed widespread misuse of cooperative funds. The panel’s report was submitted to the government, which directed agencies to expedite action.

Lamichhane was arrested on Oct 19 after the Kaski District Court issued an arrest warrant against him. The opposition Nepali Congress had made cooperative fraud a key issue in parliament, making way for the formation of a special probe committee under Thapa. Nepal Police, following directives from Home Affairs Minister Ramesh Lekhak, has sought international assistance, after which INTERPOL issued a diffusion notice for Rai, who remains at large.

While Article 16 of Nepal’s constitution guarantees every individual the right to live with dignity and Article 18 ensures equality for all citizens, these provisions have largely remained unenforced in practice. For instance, same-sex couples continue to face barriers to registering their marriages in Nepali courts, reflecting a gap between constitutional ideals and legal implementation.

Despite a landmark interim order by the Supreme Court on 27 June 2023, directing authorities to provisionally register the marriages of sexual and gender minority couples, district courts have failed to act. They argue that marriage registration is the jurisdiction of local registry offices, not the courts. Consequently, same-sex, third-gender, and intersex couples have been denied legal recognition. Courts restrict marriage registration to heterosexual couples, citing the Civil Code, 2017, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

This legal stalemate became evident on 13 July 2023, when District Judge Madhav Prasad Mainali of the Kathmandu District Court rejected the marriage registration of Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey, citing the absence of explicit legal provisions. Maya and Surendra’s effort to create a pathway for individuals unable to reveal their identities within family or society faced an early setback. The couple appealed the decision to the Patan High Court, but after three months, a division bench upheld the district court’s order.

Among the nine same-sex couples who filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, Maya and Surendra’s case stood out. Tragically, one petitioner, Manoranjan Kumar Vaidya, passed away, and other couples did not pursue marriage registration further. In Nawalpur district, court registrar Gambhir Ghimire outright refused to accept their application.

Undeterred, Maya and Surendra escalated their case to the Supreme Court. With support from former Constituent Assembly member Sunil Babu Pant, they approached Dordi Rural Municipality in Lamjung on 23 Nov 2023, for marriage registration. After consulting with the Department of National ID and Civil Registration, the municipality issued their marriage certificate on 29 Nov 2023. This milestone made Nepal the first South Asian country and the second in Asia, after Taiwan, to legally recognize same-sex marriages, attracting widespread attention.

The breakthrough inspired similar actions across Nepal. Another same-sex couple registered their marriage in Kailari Rural Municipality without requiring a formal circular. In Feb 2024, Nepal’s first lesbian couple—Anjudevi Shrestha (Dipti) and Suprita Gurung—registered their marriage in Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality-2, Bardiya, with support from Maya Ko Pahichan Nepal. In September, a same-sex male couple registered their marriage in Sabhapokhari, Sankhuwasabha, preferring to stay out of the media spotlight.

To streamline the process, Sunil Babu Pant, Executive Director of Maya Ko Pahichan Nepal and a Rainbow Tourism cultural ambassador, urged the Department of National ID and Civil Registration to issue a circular to all 753 local government offices. In April, the department complied, standardizing marriage registration forms in alignment with the Supreme Court’s directive.

The circular spurred a wave of registrations. In August, Jyoti Sarki and China Kumari Nepali registered their marriage in Rampur Municipality-9, Palpa. A month later, Laxmi Silwal and Anjali Thapa did the same in Rupa Rural Municipality, Kaski. In Devchuli Municipality, Nawalpur, the marriage of Nepali citizen Sampurna Adhikari and American citizen Hima Gurung became the first same-sex union involving a foreigner. Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City-11, Sunsari, followed suit on Oct 10, registering the marriage of Prajit Budhathoki and American citizen Joseph Foster Ellis. In November, Kohalpur Municipality-14, Banke, registered the marriage of Sanju BK and Richa Sunar.

These developments mark a significant shift. Same-sex marriage registration is now possible at the ward level, thanks to the persistent advocacy of Maya, Surendra, and Sunil Babu Pant’s leadership. However, comprehensive statistics remain unavailable, as these registrations are yet to be fully integrated into the Department of National ID and Civil Registration’s online system. 

The author has advocated for sexual and gender minority rights in Nepal as a media professional for over 13 years at Pahichan.com

Christmas is around the corner and while many of you might not necessarily be celebrating it in the grand way you tend to mark Dashain and Tihar, it’s the perfect occasion to bring some positivity and cheer into your life as well as ready your home for the new year. We aren’t going to tell you to bring in a tree, not even those plastic or synthetic ones that seem so popular these days, so hear us out. It’s about adding little touches to your home to bring in a festive feel. Here are five things you can do.

Put up the lights

The easiest way to do up your home for any festival is to decorate with lights. String lights lend a warm, inviting charm to your home but if that feels like too much work, you can buy some inexpensive battery operated candles and use that around your home—light one on the coffee table, put a few in the dining space, or on the window sill and watch your space come alive. You can also put these in decorative lanterns and jars. These days, you also get many funky displays of light that cast festive patterns on the wall or the ceiling. Consider using one for a lively space.

Use personalized decor items

A fun thing to do during the weekend as a family is to make some paper cranes or butterflies and string them up to hang around the house. You can also make many cool crafts and decor items with ribbons and threads. Instagram and YouTube have many tutorials that can help. Macrame can be another good option as you can use these all year round. Learn to make an evil eye or a dreamcatcher. Another great idea is to bring out your old photos and create a collage of memories. You can include heartwarming notes and cards that you have received over the years as well.

Bring the outside in

One of the best all-time-decor ideas is to bring in flowers and plants. Put mismatched jugs along the dining table and fill them up with fresh flowers. You can intersperse these with candles for a regal touch. However, you don’t have to use fresh flowers if they seem too much of an investment. You can use dried stems and leaves and display them interestingly in huge glasswares. Dried foliage displays can look pretty cool if done right. You might also want to consider making an impromptu tree by bringing in a spiky plant inside and doing it up with quirky trinkets.

Create a book tree

This one makes for a really interesting display. Everyone who visits your home is bound to appreciate it and, we can assure you that, you will also be quite taken by it. Gather books of different sizes and widths. Create a circle at the base using the heavy ones and add layers making a pyramid shape. Stack a book on top of two books, creating a gap between them and when you finally reach the top add a star or a bow. You can also put up string lights once the tree is ready for some extra panache.

Get some festive bedding

We spend a lot of time at home in the bedroom but it’s one of the most neglected spaces when it comes to holiday decor. But you can benefit greatly by giving your bedroom a festive flourish. Wrap garlands around the windows or the headboard for an easy decor spruce up. Invest in some bright and cheery holiday pillow and duvet covers. Put a small table-top tree or some other decoration on your nightstand. Consider displaying a wreath over the headboard or next to the bed for a final touch.

Ruth Reichl has written nine books including ‘The Paris Novel’ and edited many others like ‘History in a Glass’ and ‘Endless Feasts’. Most of her books revolve around food and culture that celebrate food. The cover of The Paris Novel has Nigella Lawson, English food writer and television cook, calling it ‘nothing less than absolute enchantment’.

I was surprised I had never come across Reichl’s works or even heard of her. I read the blurb of The Paris Novel and the first few pages at the bookshop and decided to buy it. It seemed like a simple story filled with mentions of food, books, and life in Paris. It’s also not a thick book so I thought I would breeze through it in a couple of days.

Stella St. Vincent is a copy editor at a publishing house and she likes her structured life. Then she receives a mysterious note from her late mother telling her to go to Paris. Her mother, who Stella never had a loving relationship with, has instructed her attorney, and perhaps her lover at one point, to buy a one way plane ticket to Paris for Stella and convert the remaining money in her account to traveller’s checks.

When Stella’s boss finds her asleep at the office she tells her to take an extended leave. She promises Stella that her job will be waiting for her when she gets back. Left with no choice, Stella finds herself alone in Paris. She doesn’t have friends there and is a little lost and overwhelmed. Then she meets Jules, an octogenarian who collects art and sees something in Stella that makes him take her under his wing. He introduces her to a side of Paris (and life) that she has never seen before.

The Paris Novel is rich in imagery and full of Parisian vibes. The plot is predictable and cliched. Stella, initially a shy and insecure American woman, turns into a confident go-getter with a flamboyant attitude by the end of the book and you see it coming the moment she lands in Paris. The book could also remind you of the many coming-of-age novels you have read. But be warned, there’s a familiarity to it that might bore you. It’s like a fictional version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’—which is basically one woman’s quest of finding herself.

The writing, with all the references to French culture and cuisine, can also confuse you. It’s a novel that never picks up. Unlike what I initially thought, I couldn’t finish the book in a day or two. I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. I had to take it slow as I was unfamiliar to the French lifestyle beyond what I’ve seen on the popular show ‘Emily in Paris’ on Netflix.

Whether or not you enjoy the novel depends on what kind of a read you are looking for. If you want an all vibes not much plot book, then this is for you. But if you are looking to follow a storyline, there isn’t much here. A friend who has read Reichl’s other works as well as The Paris Novel says the latter isn’t her best work and that I shouldn’t judge her based on it. She has recommended ‘Cheer Me Up with Apples’ and ‘Tender at the Bone’. Despite not being great, The Paris Novel, with its lush descriptions of food and wine, has whetted my appetite for more and I’m actually willing to give her another chance. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195430688-the-paris-novel 

The Paris Novel

Ruth Reichl

Published: 2024

Publisher: Magpie Books

Pages: 272, Paperback