13 persons, including former minister, implicated in Pokhara Airport case

BY A STAFF REPORTER,Kathmandu, May 8: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Thursday filed a case against 13 individuals, including a former finance minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, a former secretary of the Ministry of Finance Shankar Prasad Adhikari and the Chinese company (China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd), at the Special Court, accusing them of abusing public funds in the construction of the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA). 

The case also names former joint-secretaries at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Suresh Acharya and Danduraj Ghimire, and then director generals of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Sanjeev Gautam and others as defendants

The CIAA accused them of causing massive financial loss to the state through illegal tax exemptions and abuse of public funds during the construction of the PRIA. 

According to the CIAA, officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, in collusion with the contractor, China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd, allegedly granted unlawful tax exemptions to the company in violation of the original commercial contract agreement.

The investigation revealed that under the Commercial Contract Agreement signed between the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and the contractor, all taxes, customs duties and other charges were already included within the contract price. The agreement had clearly stipulated that the contractor itself would bear and pay such taxes and fees in accordance with Nepali law.

However, investigators found that an additional ‘Implementation Agreement’ was later introduced with malicious intent, allowing the contractor to receive exemptions from taxes and duties contrary to the original contract provisions.

Based on that Implementation Agreement, the contractor allegedly received payments that already included taxes and other government charges, while simultaneously obtaining exemptions that prevented those amounts from being deposited into the state treasury. 

The CIAA claimed that the actions resulted in the embezzlement, loss and misuse of public property worth Rs. 3.62 billion, which formed part of the loan obtained by the Government of Nepal for the airport project. The anti-graft body has sought legal action and punishment against the accused officials in accordance with the prevailing laws.

Earlier on March 21, the CIAA had filed a separate case against the same Chinese company (China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd) and 21 individuals, including former secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, in relation to the construction of Pokhara International Airport, alleging the misappropriation of Rs. 461.5 million.