The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed another corruption case related to the construction of Pokhara International Airport.
On Thursday, the CIAA filed charges at the Special Court against 14 individuals, including former minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Pradeep Adhikari.
The anti-graft body has sought recovery of over Rs 3.62 billion in damages from the defendants.
The case involves former secretaries, high-ranking government officials, and a Chinese construction company.
According to a statement issued by the CIAA on Thursday, the charge sheet was filed after concluding that the state suffered massive financial losses during the airport’s construction due to tax exemptions granted to the Chinese contractor in violation of the original procurement agreement.
According to the commission, the original agreement between CAAN and the Chinese construction company stipulated that all taxes, duties, and other fees were included within the construction cost. Under those terms, the contractor was legally obligated to pay those taxes and fees according to Nepal’s law.
However, the CIAA stated that government officials and the construction company colluded to prepare a supplementary implementation agreement that granted the company tax exemptions.
According to the CIAA, the company received payments that already included tax amounts but failed to deposit those taxes into the state treasury, effectively securing "double benefits."
The commission claims that Rs 3.62 billion of public funds – obtained as a government loan – was embezzled, lost, or misused.
In this case, the CIAA has sought imprisonment, a fine equivalent to the embezzled amount, recovery of the amount, and additional penalties against then-finance minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002.
Similar claims and penalties have been sought against then-finance secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari and then-secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Maheshwar Neupane.
Furthermore, the CIAA has filed charges against then-joint secretary of the Finance Ministry Kewal Prasad Bhandari, then-joint secretaries of the Tourism Ministry Suresh Acharya and Danduraj Ghimire, and then-director general of CAAN Sanjeev Gautam.
Other defendants include then-project director of the National Pride Project Pradeep Adhikari, then-electronics engineer of the Tourism Ministry Yogesh Aryal, then-under secretary of the Finance Ministry Yugraj Pandey, and section officer Urmila Bhandari.
The construction company itself, along with its Chairman Wang Bo and Project Manager Yang Zhigang, have also been named as defendants, with the CIAA seeking penalties equivalent to those of the main offenders.
