CPN-UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai has said that he will not remain in the subcommittee formed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives to investigate the construction of Bhairahawa International Airport.
During a PAC meeting held on Sunday, Bhattarai said that he would not remain in the subcommittee, citing concerns raised about a former minister for culture, tourism, and civil aviation leading the subcommittee.
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Manish Jha had questioned Bhattarai’s leadership of the subcommittee.
Jha argued in a previous PAC meeting that Bhattarai, as a former tourism minister, heading the subcommittee could raise questions about its report.
The subcommittee has prepared a report after conducting field visits and consulting with experts.
Jha further argued that the PAC’s past practice had been to exclude individuals who previously led a ministry from subcommittees investigating issues like unaccounted expenses related to that ministry.
“The committee’s practice was to not include Janardan Sharma in meetings on unaccounted expenditure of the Finance Ministry, and to not include Gokul Baskota in meetings on unaccounted expenditure of the Communication Ministry,” Jha said. “Subcommittees on unaccounted expenditure were formed following this practice, but why wasn’t it done in the case of the airport investigation? That’s the question I raised with the committee chair.”
PAC Chairperson Rishikesh Pokharel explained that the issue was overlooked initially, leading to the subcommittee’s formation as it was.
“Yogesh Bhattarai served as tourism minister for 15 months during the construction of Bhairahawa Airport. He cannot lead the investigation team now as there is a conflict of interest. I also told Bhattarai that this would make the report controversial, and that he should have followed such principles if the goal was to make the report free of controversy.”
Bhattarai announced his resignation as the subcommittee’s coordinator after questions were raised about him.
“Manish Jha said a former minister cannot be the coordinator of the investigation committee now. I asked him why he hadn’t raised questions earlier as he is also a member of the same subcommittee,” Bhattarai said at the time.
The subcommittee, led by Bhattarai, includes Manish Jha, Amaresh Kumar Singh, Achyut Prasad Mainali, Bikram Pandey, Shyam Kumar Ghimire, Manju Khand, and Saraj Ahmad Farooqi as members.
The Public Accounts Committee formed the subcommittee on June 9, 2024, following complaints that Gautam Buddha International Airport had not come into operation even after completion due to flaws in construction of infrastructure.The subcommittee is preparing to submit its report.
The subcommittee is preparing to submit its report.
