Corruption in Melamchi water supply: 4 guilty, 11 acquitted

By Narayan Kalfe, Kathmandu, Sept.10: The Special Court has convicted four people including former secretary Gajendra Thakur in the Melamchi Drinking Water Project irregularity case.

11 people were acquitted while four construction and construction and consulting companies has been found guilty.  

11 people including former Secretary Bhim Upadhaya, Sanjaya Sharma, and incumbent Joint Secretary Rudra Singh Tamang are acquitted of the charge. 

According to the Information Officer of the Special Court Yagya Raj Regmi, the court will determine punishment on September 23 if found guilty. 

The joint bench of Special Court chair Tek Narayan Kunwar and members Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Murari Babu Shrestha have announced the verdict of guilty and will determine the punishment as well. 

Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a special case on February 18, 2024, alleging irregularities in the various nature and stages of the project. 

After completing the 'pre-trial' before the trial, the Special Court held continuous hearings for the last two weeks and gave a verdict on Monday. 

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed a corruption case against 17 people and entities, including three former secretaries, on the charge of irregularities in the Melamchi Water Supply Project.

Former secretaries Sanjay Sharma, Bhim Upadhyay, and Gajendra Thakur were named defendants in the chargesheet. They all headed the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board during their respective tenures as secretary at the Ministry of Water Supply as its ex-officio chair. However, of the 11 alleged, four have been found guilty. 

The Sepecial Court has found the then chairman of Melamchi Khanpani Committee Gajendra Kumar Thakur and the committee's executive director Suryaraj Kandel guilty of not collecting the amount due. Similarly, the court found Ramchandra Devkota, who is also the executive director of the water supply development and committee and responsible accounting officer, to be involved in the payment process.

Deputy team leader Shiva Kumar Sharma of the consulting firm Eptisa BETS J/V; the consulting firm itself, and the contractor—Co-operativa Muratori eCementisti di Ravenna, Italy—have also been charged sheeted for corruption in the case. Shiv Kumar Sharma has been found guilty of recommending the payment without the variation being approved. 

11 acquitted by Special Court 

Dr Sanjay Sharma, Bhim Prasad Upadhaya, Mukunda Prasad Poudel, Rudra Singh Tamang, Chandra Bahadur Thapa, Ghanshyam Bhattarai, Manibhadra Neupande, Bhojkrim Thapa, Ram Chandra Neupande, Begnath Poudel, and Kedar Prasad Arayal have been acquitted of the charge by the court.