Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal has been automatically supsended after a corruption case was filed against him and 10 others at the Special Court on Sunday.
This marks the first time a corruption case has been brought against a sitting Chief Secretary.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the charge sheet claiming that they caused the state a loss of Rs 387.61 million while procuring excise duty stickers for Inland Revenue Department
The CIAA is seeking to recover Rs 386.71 million from these individuals.
In addition to Chief Secretary Dr. Aryal, the CIAA has filed charge sheets against Ritesh Shakya, Director General of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD); Tanka Pandey, Deputy Director General of IRD; Ganesh Bikram Shahi, Director of IRD; Rabindra Prasad Paudel, Section Officer of IRD; Bikal Paudel, Safal Shrestha, Hari Ballabh Ghimire and Bishnu Prasad Gautam of the Security Printing Center; Shakti Prasad Shrestha, procurement consultant; and Keshav Sharma of Printcell Pvt. Ltd., Lalitpur.
The Security Printing Center had awarded a contract worth Rs 386.71 million to Printcell Pvt. Ltd. for printing 433.2 million units of excise duty stickers over nine months. As the cost per unit was 85 paisa which was significantly higher compared to the previous contract of 35 paisa per unit, a corruption case was filed at the CIAA.
Except for Safal Shrestha, the other three individuals from the Security Printing Center named in the case are already suspended on other corruption charges.
