Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, former minister Dr Minendra Prasad Rijal and 95 others for causing losses to government property by illegally allowing the exchange and sale of land in Biratnagar that had been granted exemption from the land ceiling.
The anti-graft body filed the charge sheet at the Special Court on Tuesday, claiming damages of Rs 734.95 million. It has sought fines equivalent to the claimed amount and recovery of the losses.
Those named as defendants include the then Prime Minister Nepal; Dr Rijal, who was the then coordinator of the Social Committee under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers; and former officials of the Ministry of Land Reform and Management, including secretary Chhabiraj Pant, joint secretary Ramesh Chandra Adhikari, and undersecretaries Gandhi Prasad Subedi and Bhupendra Mani KC.
The charge sheet also names former officials of various ministries; then Director General of the Department of Land Reform and Management Rajendra Prasad Laudari; employees of the Land Revenue Office; and individuals involved in the exchange and sale of the land.
According to the CIAA, Rijal Canning and Company Pvt Ltd had received an exemption from the land ceiling for a total of four bighas, five katthas, nine dhurs and one kanwa of land in the then Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan City-3, on the condition that it would operate a fruit-processing industry. The CIAA alleges that the company failed to operate the industry as required and left the land unused.
Under the Land Act, 1964, the government should have confiscated the land and brought it under its ownership after the company failed to establish the industry. However, the defendants allegedly colluded to illegally exchange and sell the property.
According to the CIAA, the defendants secured approval from the Cabinet and the Social Committee to exchange the valuable land in Biratnagar for a lower-value plot in Banigama, Morang, which had been purchased for Rs 1.285 million. It concluded that the transaction caused substantial losses to government and public property.
The charge sheet also names Rijal Canning and Company’s directors Kulchandra Prasad Rijal, Rajendra Prasad Rijal, Janak Prasad Rijal, Devendra Prasad Rijal, Badal Prasad Rijal and Pashupati Prasad Rijal as defendants.
