Kathmandu, 7 Dec: Corruption charges have been filed against 55 individuals, including former Ministers of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation—late Post Bahadur Bogati, Ram Kumar Shrestha, Bhim Prasad Acharya, Dipak Chandra Amatya—and former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat.
According to Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari, Assistant Spokesperson of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a corruption case amounting to 8.36 billion rupees (8,36,73,55,297 NPR) has been filed against them in connection with the construction of the Pokhara Regional International Airport Project.
The CIAA stated that corruption cases have also been filed against former Secretaries of the Ministry of Culture—Sushil Ghimire, Suresh Man Shrestha; former Finance Ministry Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma; former Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice, Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs Bhesh Raj Sharma; former Joint Secretaries of the Culture Ministry Ranjan Krishna Aryal and Mohan Krishna Sapkota; Joint Secretary and Civil Aviation Authority Board Member Lok Bahadur Khatri; and former members of the Authority’s Board Manrup Shahi, Jyoti Adhikari, Manoj Karki, Phurwa Chhiring Sherpa, Suresh Acharya, and Madan Kharel.
Similarly, charges have been filed against former Director General of the Customs Department and Civil Aviation Authority Board Member Muktinarayan Poudel; Surya Prasad Acharya; former Director General and Board Member-Secretary Ratis Chandra Lal Suman; former Deputy Director General Suman Kumar Shrestha; former Under-Secretary Hari Bahadur Khadka; former Deputy Director General Roshan Chitrakar; Rishikesh Sharma; former Deputy Director Narayan Giri; Mahesh Kumar Basnet; former Director Baburam Poudel; Deputy Director Murari Bhandari; Subarna Raj Upadhyaya; Director Pratap Babu Tiwari; former Manager Rudra Prasad Phuyal; and Ram Chandra Subedi.
Corruption charges have also been filed against former Registrar of the Supreme Court Dr. Ram Krishna Timilsina; Airport Engineer Dr. Purushottam Dangol; retired Director Vinodananda Chaudhary; former Director of the Civil Aviation Authority Mukunda Prasad Bhandari; former Manager Gangasagar Man Shrestha; former Deputy Manager and current Director General Pradeep Adhikari; former professors of Pulchowk Engineering Campus—Dr. Rabindranath Shrestha, Associate Professor Surya Gyawali, Santosh Kumar Shrestha; former Deputy Director Dr. Punya Raj Shakya; former Senior Legal Officer Dwarika Prasad Bhattarai; former Manager Kul Prasad Sinkhada; and former Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini.
Likewise, charges have been filed against former Under-Secretary of the Finance Ministry Lal Bahadur Khatri; Section Officer Kamal Kumar Bhattarai; former Under-Secretary Prem Upadhyaya; Ram Maya Bogati, legal heir of former Minister Post Bahadur Bogati; Yamuna Devi Shrestha, legal heir of former Deputy Director Dhruv Das Bhochibhoya; China CAMC Engineering Corporation Limited; and its key representatives Wang Bo and Liu Shengchen.
According to the CIAA, the charges were filed on Sunday at the Special Court in Kathmandu, demanding punishment under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 (2002)
