The Special Court has ordered the release of five individuals on bail in the passport printing corruption case.
A bench comprising judges Narayan Prasad Paudel, Hemanta Rawal, and Umesh Koirala ordered the release on bail of Tirtha Raj Aryal, director general of the Department of Passports, along with four others.
The court set bail at Rs 500,000 for Director General Aryal; Rs 400,000 for Information Technology Director Sunil Kumar KC; Rs 300,000 each for former section officer Somesh Thapa and computer engineer Bipin Prasain; and Rs 500,000 for Manindra Raj Malla, the Nepal representative of German company Muehlbauer ID Services, which was awarded the passport printing contract.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had detained seven individuals while registering the case.
However, the court ordered the release of former accounts officer Tulsi Prasad Acharya and former under-secretary (law) Raja Ram Dahal without bail.
The court noted that Acharya had already been transferred from the department on October 13 last year, while Dahal had joined the department only on April 21 this year. Accordingly, it ordered that they be summoned only when necessary and not be required to appear regularly during the trial.
On June 22, the CIAA filed corruption charges against 18 individuals, including Director General Aryal.
Those charged include Director General Aryal, IT Director KC, former directors Shatrudhwan Prasad Sharma Pokharel and Rabindra Rajbhandari, and former accounts officer Acharya.
Charges were also filed against computer engineer Prasain, former section officer Thapa, former Foreign Ministry under-secretaries Raja Ram Dahal (law), Bhesh Prasad Bhurtel (accounts), and Pushkar Raj Nepal (law).
The CIAA has claimed damages amounting to Rs 10.13 billion against the accused.
According to the anti-graft body, complaints had been filed alleging serious irregularities and corruption from the very initial stages of the tender process invited by the department for passport printing.
The investigation following these complaints revealed collusion, planning, and involvement between officials and foreign companies, leading to illegal benefits and financial loss to the government.
Two German companies were awarded contracts for the passport printing project.
In the procurement process, Muehlbauer ID Services was awarded the contract for Package 1, which includes pre-enrollment, enrollment, data management, and delivery system. Veridos secured Package 2, covering personalization, quality control, and packaging system.
The CIAA alleges that the contracts were awarded through collusion and in violation of the Public Procurement Act, 2006, Public Procurement Regulations, 2007, and other applicable laws in a manner designed to ensure that the two German companies secured the contracts.
Corruption charges were also filed against Gerhard Maurer, Pavle Rakic of Muehlbauer ID Services, and the company's Nepal representative Manindra Raj Malla. The CIAA has sought Rs 1.91 billion in damages from them.
Similarly, charges have been filed against Fabiola Bellersheim and Florian Pacquelin of Veridos, and the company’s Nepal representative Siddhartha Thapa. The CIAA has sought Rs 8.22 billion in damages from them.
Earlier, as part of the investigation, the CIAA had served a notice on June 16 summoning former foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba for questioning. The notice was also posted outside her residence in Budhanilkantha.
Likewise, on June 18, the CIAA had published a notice in The Rising Nepal newspaper directing the two German companies involved in the passport project to appear either in person or virtually for questioning.
Following the notice, Veridos informed the CIAA in writing that it was willing to provide a statement virtually. However, the CIAA proceeded with filing the case against the company and its representative without recording its statement.
It had previously emerged that, on June 16, members of Prime Minister Balendra Shah's secretariat questioned CIAA officials and pressured them into issuing an arrest warrant for Director General Aryal. Aryal was subsequently taken into custody from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.
