KATHMANDU, JULY 25

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed a chargesheet at the Special Court against four persons for embezzling state funds during procurement of consultancy service for construction of Rampur Multipurpose Covered Hall in Palpa.

Those indicted by the anti-graft body are former chief of Palpa District Sports Development Committee Tara Bahadur Thapa, its former chairperson Karuna Kafle, and proprietors of Finesh Engineers and Builders Pvt Ltd Sandesh Pandey and Jhapen Pandey. According to the CIAA, Thapa and Kafle had misappropriated Rs 990,000 in collusion with the proprietors of the consulting firm in the fiscal 2016-17.

The DSDC signed a contract with the consulting firm for consultancy service to develop a Detailed Project Report of the covered hall at a cost of Rs 990,000. However, Thapa and Kafle disbursed the payment to the firm without submission of the DPR in line with the existing Public Procurement Act and Rules. 'The payment should have been released only after completion and submission of the DPR as per the law. On the contrary, Thapa and Kafle disbursed the amount merely on the basis of an inception report. They considered the inception report as the DPR for the purpose of making payment to the consulting firm,' said the CIAA in a press release.

The consulting firm submitted fake bills for payment, and Thapa and Kafle endorsed them by certifying that the DPR was also received as mentioned in the contract. The anti-graft body said that the consulting firm had also claimed payment for work they had never done. 'The amount was meant for preparation and submission of the DPR. However, it collided with Thapa and Kafle seeking payment without performing the task according to the contract,' the CIAA said.

The CIAA has claimed maximum punishment against the four persons under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002. It has also demanded that the court recover Rs 990,000 from each.

Earlier, the anti-graft body had filed a chargesheet at the court against nine persons for allegedly embezzling state funds during upgradation work of Raj Stadium in Rabiraj Municipality, Saptari.

Those sued by the anti-graft body were erstwhile chairperson of Saptari District Sports Development Committee Ejet Nyasur, vice-chairperson Dhirendra Barma, its office heads Mahendra Prasad Yadav and Laxman Mandal, engineer of District Coordination Committee Bikash Shrestha, and construction entrepreneurs Udaya Shrestha and Bhimraj Yadav.

The DSDC had allocated a budget of Rs 1,327,430 for upgradation work in the fiscal 2016-17. However the office-bearers of the DSDC had embezzled the budget in collusion with its staffers, DCC engineer, and construction entrepreneurs, without carrying out the construction work as per cost estimates, terms and conditions, and specifications.

According to the CIAA, the defendants had approved and certified the work completion report in addition to releasing the payment to construction entrepreneurs without completion of the prescribed construction works.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 26, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.