Corruption case filed against seven including two former ministers

Kathmandu, Oct 8: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has initiated corruption charges against seven people, including two former ministers.     

Today, the CIAA submitted the charge sheet against the individuals including former Minister of the Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajkumar Gupta and former Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation, Ranjita Shrestha for their involvement in corruption.     

A case has been lodged in the Special Court in Kathmandu, stemming from an investigation into an audio recording in which then-Minister Gupta purportedly accepted 5.3 million Nepali rupees from a real estate trade to facilitate the transfer of Ramchandra Adhikari, who was the head of the Land Revenue Office in Kaski district at the time, and allegedly negotiated a bribe of 2.5 million rupees to appoint him as a member of the Land Commission.     

The Commission has filed the case seeking fines and penalties against then-Minister Gupta for 7.8 million rupees, former Minister Shrestha for 7.8 million rupees, Ramchandra Adhikari, the former Chief Land Revenue Officer of Kaski, Pokhara, for 5.3 million rupees, real estate intermediary Sujan Kumar Lama (also referred to as Sujan Kumar Tamang) for 7.8 million rupees, defendant Khem Pun (also known as Khamba Bahadur Pun) for 2.5 million rupees, defendant Yama Kumari Gurung for 7.8 million rupees, and defendant Tulsiram Budhamagar for 7.8 million rupees.(RSS)