CIAA files case against nine

BY A STAFF REPORTER,Kathmandu, Jan. 24: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case against nine individuals, including former Land Revenue Officers of the Land Revenue Office, Banke, Rishiram KC and Ashok Kumar Bhattarai, accusing them of embezzling approximately Rs. 4.3 million during a land registration and transfer process in the Banke district, at the Special Court on Thursday.

According to the charge sheet, land located in former Betahani VDC Ward No. 4, originally registered in the name of the late Surata Kurmi, was unlawfully transferred to private individuals despite clear and final court verdicts denying inheritance rights. The Supreme Court had already ruled that neither Lilawati Kairati nor Ramjas Kurmi and his family were entitled to inherit the property. 

However, investigators found that Lilawati Kairati, in collusion with others, submitted applications to the Land Revenue Office, Banke, to register the land in her name. Officials allegedly prepared false field inspection reports and secured unlawful recommendations from local bodies, leading to the illegal transfer of half of the land. This caused a loss of Rs. 2,242,720 to the government.

The investigation further revealed that to acquire the remaining half, the accused registered a fraudulent case at the Banke District Court and executed an unlawful compromise, even though such a settlement was legally impossible. Based on this compromise alone, land was again registered in private names, resulting in an additional loss of Rs. 2,087,259.

The case also names former non-gazetted officers Tara Prasad Khanal and Karna Bahadur Pun, former secretary of former Betahani VDC Man Bahadur Bogati, and Lilawati Kairati and Birendra Kumar Kurmi as defendants.