Shrestha removed from aviation think tank

Kathmandu, July 8

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has removed Hari Bhakta Shrestha, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, from its list of experts.

Issuing a press statement today, MoCTCA notified about the removal of Shrestha in the backdrop of immense criticism for his inclusion in the think tank. Shrestha is alleged to be one of the major designers of the infamous ‘Lauda' scam, which is considered to be the greatest scam in Nepal's aviation history.

Earlier, MoCTCA had appointed Shrestha to think tank as an expert on air traffic control and aviation law.

The MoCTCA had formed a ‘think tank' in April and asked it to suggest measures to bring about improvement in the country's civil aviation sector. The think tank is chaired by Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari who had been criticised for including Shrestha in the expert group.

Other members of think tank are Lalit Bikram Shah, former regional director of International Civil Aviation Organisation; former secretaries Birendra Bahadur Deuja, Nagendra Prasad Ghimire and Yagya Prasad Gautam; and aviation experts Trichandra Manandhar, Ratish Chandra Lal Suman and Kamal Prasad Rimal.

The expert group also includes Captain PJ Shah; civil engineer Kamal Kumar KC; and experts Mahendra Singh Rawal, Uday Shrestha, Yubaraj Kumar Bhattarai, Narayan Bahadur Singh Dangol, Libindra Man Shakya, Suman Kumar Shrestha, Mahendra Raj Bhandari, Prabhakar Adhikari, Prabha Baidya and Hemanta Aryal.