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Kathmandu, Dec 3 (PTI) Nepal police have launched an investigation into the citizenship row involving Rastriya Swatantra Party chief Rabi Lamichhane, who was recently elected to the House of Representatives.
The Kathmandu Regional Police launched an investigation after receiving a letter from the District Administrative Office.
“A letter has been received from the District Administrative Office and the investigation process has moved forward,” Superintendent Dinesh Raj Mainali told PTI.
Ukeraa.com reported that 48-year-old Lamichhane allegedly did not renounce his Nepali citizenship after he obtained US citizenship and started using his old Nepali citizenship card again after renunciating his US citizenship.
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The news portal also published a news report that Ramikhane was working as a US citizen for state-run Nepal TV and other private channels without any work permits.
Lamichhane’s Rashtriya Swatantra party won seven seats in the recently concluded elections for the House of Representatives and over 1.1 million popular votes under the proportional voting system. He also won the House of Representatives from the Chitwan 2 constituency.
According to Ukeraa.com, the former TV personality is now using the Nepali citizenship he acquired before immigrating to the US 28 years ago. Even after obtaining American citizenship, he did not renounce his Nepalese citizenship. If a Nepalese national acquires foreign citizenship, his/her Nepalese citizenship will be automatically revoked.
The portal also claimed that Lamichhane obtained a Nepalese passport in 2015 based on his outdated citizenship certificate. He is also alleged to have used his old citizenship to stand in the November 20 Chitawan 2 election.
A complaint against Lamichhane was lodged with the Election Commission ahead of the November 20 election. However, the vote had already taken place before pollsters began looking into the matter. Later, the Home Office lodged a complaint against him.
After receiving the complaint, the Home Ministry wrote to the Kathmandu District Administrative Office to investigate the matter.
According to preliminary investigations, Ramichhane appeared to have obtained a Nepalese passport before renunciating his foreign citizenship and was fined and imprisoned. Under Nepalese law, there is no requirement to acquire dual citizenship. Penalties are also included in the law for obtaining passports or travel documents by providing false information.
According to legal experts, the Rastriya Swatantra party chief can be fined between Rs 200,000 to Rs 500,000, or jailed for one to three years, or both, if proven guilty under the current law.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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