Kathmandu. The then member-secretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, Dr. The court has fixed the hearing of corruption case against 14 persons including Milan Kumar Thapa. The hearing on the case is taking place before the full bench of Chairman of the Special Court Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Justices Hemanta Rawal and Dilli Ratna Shrestha.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a corruption case against 14 persons, including member secretary Thapa, in connection with the purchase of a body cremation machine on June 22, 2002. Member Secretary Dr. The case has implicated in the case the then officiating member secretary Raju Kumar Khatri, then executive director Ghanashyam Khatiwada, current deputy director Rewati Raman Adhikari, then acting deputy director Sitaram Rissel, engineers Pashupati Thakur, Dennis Upreti and Ramesh Puri, among others.
The defendants have been accused of preparing an unnaturally high cost estimate by showing that the cremation machine was worth Rs 32.50 million and adding the exemption given by the prevailing law to the cost estimate. It is stated in the charge sheet that the procurement was not carried out without necessary technical documents, competitive bidding and on-site inspection. The CIAA has also stated in the charge sheet that Rs 1.82 crore was paid in advance without completing the works mentioned in the contract agreement.
Likewise, Account Officer of Pashupati Area Development Trust Chandra Prasad Khanal, Assistant Professor Yubaraj Adhikari, Chief of Electrical Department of Pulchowk Campus, Lain Bahadur Thapa, Legal Advisor and Member of Evaluation Committee of PADT Lain Bahadur Thapa, Directors Manoj Puri and Yadunandan Bhattarai of Suppliers Company Map Entrepreneurs, and Suraj Chapagain, Managing Director of Apple Engineering, have also been named as defendants in the case. The defendants have been claimed for Rs 1.82 crore each.
According to the indictment, they selected certain companies on the basis of “favorites and likes” rather than due process, violating clear standards of public procurement. According to the charge sheet, the prices presented as ‘cheap machine’ were false and the contract was awarded to the machine worth Rs 32 lakh.
The charge sheet filed by the CIAA states that the contract was awarded without technical report, site inspection and legal consultation, payment was made before the agreement, the deadline was extended before the work was completed, sub-standard machines were installed and the machines were not yet in operation.
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