Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against current and former government officials for irregularities in the procurement of the National Payment Gateway six years ago.
The gateway, procured six years ago based on the plan of the then Executive Director of the National Information Technology Center (NITC), has yet to be implemented. In the charge sheet, the CIAA has alleged that the payment gateway was purchased for Rs 250 million with an ‘unrealistic’ cost estimation without readying the necessary infrastructure.
The anti-graft body has stated in the charge sheet that state resources were misused in collusion with the then Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Chairman of NITC, Sanjaya Thapa; the then Executive Director of NITC, Pranita Upadhyaya; the then Executive Director of NITC and current Managing Director of Nepal Telecom, Sunil Poudel; the Deputy Director of NITC, Safal Shrestha; the then Chief of Budget Program Division of the Finance Ministry and current Industry Secretary, Madhu Kumar Marisini; NITC Assistant Director Ramesh Pokharel, the then Accounts Officers of NITC Nim Bahadur Oli and Ram Bahadur Budha; and the Computer Engineer of NITC, Ram Sharan Gayak.
“During the investigation, it was revealed that Marasini, the then Head of the Budget and Program Division of the Ministry of Finance, included the program to procure the gateway, which was not part of the policy and program document, and for which the NICT had not sought budgetary approval, in the Redbook without informing superiors. This was done without following the necessary budget approval processes and exceeded the allowed budget ceiling,” stated the CIAA.
The CIAA has concluded that such activities resulted in a loss of Rs 232.75 million to the state.
