The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against 21 individuals, including Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, the then-secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, alleging irregularities in the construction of Pokhara International Airport.
On Sunday, the CIAA filed the case against 21 individuals and two companies.
According to CIAA spokesperson Suresh Neupane, the case was registered after investigations revealed corruption during the appointment of consultants for the airport construction project.
“The work under the procurement agreement for construction of Pokhara International Airport should have been carried out within the original contract amount of 280 million US dollars,” he said. “However, it was found that contrary to the agreement, an abnormally inflated cost estimate of 503.44 million US dollars was prepared, causing additional and duplicate expenditure and financial loss to the Civil Aviation Authority.”
The CIAA alleges that despite knowing that a separate budget from the CIAA could not be used for the appointment of consultants – which should have been covered by the initial $280 million – a payment of $400 million was made, leading to the misappropriation of CAAN's assets. The spokesperson added that the very initiation of the procurement process and the decision regarding the consultant appointment were done with "malafide intent."
Those charged include former tourism secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, former CAAN directors general Sanjiv Gautam, Rajan Pokharel, and Pradeep Adhikari, as well as deputy director general Mahendra Singh Rawal. The case also names Yamuna Devi Shrestha (heir to the late former director Dhrupadhas Bhochhibhoya), project director Baburam Paudel, deputy director Prabin Neupane, Manager Chandmala Shrestha, and project chief Binesh Munankarmi.
Other accused include then-senior accounting officer of national pride projects under the CIAA Narendra Raj Saiju, accounting officer and deputy manager Pramod Nepal, senior accounting officer and deputy manager Sabin Phuyal, Himjyoti Thapa, officer Rajarām Chaudhary, Yam Bahadur Bhandari (working for the consultant company involved in the Pokhara Regional International Airport construction project), Uddhav Raj Chaulagain, Shobhendra Raj Joshi, Pramod Dawadi, and two Chinese nationals involved in the construction business.
The CIAA has claimed an embezzlement amount of Rs 461.58 million from the then tourism secretary, with varying claim amounts sought from the other defendants.
