Cabinet sacks Security Printing Centre’s executive director; decides to send the report related with Ncell share buyout for implementation

Kathmandu / Feb 18: The government has sacked Bikal Paudel, the suspended executive director of the Security Printing Centre.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Sunday decided to dismiss him from the position, noting that he holds a permanent residence permit of the United States.

“Dismiss Bikal Paudel, the executive director of the Security Printing Centre, from the position as it appears he had received a lawful permanent resident permit of the United States,” reads the Cabinet decision.

Paudel is currently under the custody of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority after being detained on January 24 on the charge of misappropriating public property and transferring properties to foreign countries even after being implicated in a corruption case.

The graft case was filed at the Special Court against nine individuals including Paudel on April 17 last year.

The anti-graft body has accused them of being involved in irregularities of up to Rs690.88 million while procuring equipment for the printing press. The CIAA has accused them of being involved in the preparation and approval of an unnatural (inflated) cost estimate, accepting the supply of substandard electric transformers by going against the contract and making payment for a generator produced in a country other than that specified in the contract.

Likewise, the meeting extended the tenure of a three-member committee formed to investigate a row between the Nepal Electricity Authority and industries regarding outstanding electricity bills by one month.

The Cabinet also decided to send the report of the committee formed to study the controversial Ncell share buyout to the relevant agencies for implementation, appoint Chandika Prasad Bhatta as Managing Director of the Nepal Oil Corporation, Bhupendra Bhandari as chair of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority and Dr Pramod Joshi as member-secretary of the Nepal Health Research Council.