CIAA filed graft case against 32, including former minister and ex-secretaries, in wide-body aircraft deal

Kathmandu / April 04: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday filed a corruption case against 30 individuals and two firms in connection with the 2017 purchase of two wide-body aircrafts.

The anti-graft body registered the case at the Special Court accusing former minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, former aviation secretaries Sishir Kumar Dhungana and Shankar Prasad Adhikari, and former managing director of Nepal Airlines Corporation Sugat Ratna Kansakar of being involved in the embezzlement of around Rs1 billion 478 million during the procurement of two Airbus A330s.

Twenty-four Nepalis, six foreign nationals, and two supplier firms have been made defendants in the case, said Yagya Raj Regmi, spokesperson for the CIAA.

Among the defendants are Tourism Ministry Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, former NAC Director Ramesh Bahadur Shah and former board members of the national flag carrier Teknath Acharya, Nima Nuru Sherpa, Rishi Ram Pandey, Achyut Raj Pahadi, and Jivan Prakash Sitaula.

However, the CIAA didn’t charge-sheeted former ministers Jitendra Narayan Dev and Dil Nath Giri, who had also been accused in the corruption case, citing lack of evidence to prove their involvement.

As per the CIAA, the corruption allegedly caused the government a loss of Rs1,478,505,482 in the purchase of A330-200 aircraft by Nepal Airlines Corporation.