The Special Court has issued an order to summon witnesses in a corruption case involving 93 defendants including Co-coordinator of Nepali Communist Party (NCP) Madhav Kumar Nepal.
A bench of Judges Narayan Prasad Paudel and Dilli Ratna Shrestha on Sunday ordered the recording of witness testimonies regarding the Patanjali land embezzlement case, according to Special Court spokesperson Krishna Sharan Lamichhane.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the case against 93 individuals including former prime minister Madhav Nepal on June 5, 2025. The CIAA alleges that the Cabinet led by Nepal illegally permitted the purchase and sale of land in Sanga, Kavre which had been granted a land-holding ceiling exemption.
A Cabinet decision was made on February 1, 2010 while Nepal was PM to grant approval for purchase of Patanjali’s purchase of 815 ropanis of land exempting ceiling exemption. The Cabinet subsequently on March 19, 2010 decided to allow Patanjali to sell that very land. The CIAA initiated corruption investigation into the case following that.
The CIAA has claimed an amount of Rs 185.85 million in damages from Nepal. During the preliminary hearing on June 25, the Special Court had ordered Nepal’s release on a bail of Rs 3.5 million.
