A corruption case has been filed against 14 individuals and two companies for alleged irregularities in the purchase of a cremation machine for the crematorium at Pashupati.
On Sunday, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the case at the Special Court. The CIAA has charged Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT)’s Member Secretary Milan Kumar Thapa, along with 13 others and two companies with corruption.
Those charged also include the PADT’s then acting member secretary Raju Kumar Khatri, then executive director Ghanashyam Khatiwada, then acting deputy director Sitaram Risal, engineers Pashupati Thakur, Denis Upreti, and Ramesh Puri.
Additionally, the CIAA has filed charges against Accounts Officer Chandra Prasad Khanal, Associate Professor Yubaraj Adhikari, chief of the Electrical Department at the Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk, PADT’s legal advisor Lain Bahadur Thapa, Map Entrepreneurs Pvt Ltd, and its operators Manoj Puri and Yadunandan Bhattarai.
Similarly, it has filed charges against Apple Engineering Professional Consultancy Pvt Ltd and its Managing Director Suraj Chapagain.
The CIAA has claimed a loss of NPR 103.39 million and sought to recover this amount from them.
According to CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Paudel, the bidding process for the purchase of cremation machine for the crematorium had deviated from the standards set by the Public Procurement Monitoring Office from the outset.
The accused allegedly called for bids in a way that favored Map Entrepreneurs, excluding competitors. They are accused of inflating the cost of a cremation machine worth INR 3.25 million and making an advance payment of NPR 15.2 million.
The CIAA has accused them of misappropriating funds by awarding a contract amounting to Rs 103.39 million.
According to the CIAA, payments were approved despite issues with the purchased machine, and substandard machines were installed without timely maintenance, rendering them currently inoperable.
