Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Special Court has ordered the release of former minister and Nepali Communist Party (NCP) leader Ranjita Shrestha on bail in connection with the Litchi Garden land scam in Pokhara.
Following a detention hearing on Sunday, a division bench comprising Special Court Chairperson Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Judges Hemanta Rawal and Dilli Ratna Shrestha ordered Shrestha’s release on bail of Rs 500,000.
The Special Court had earlier ordered the remand of former Minister for General Administration Rajkumar Gupta into custody in the same case.
The bench was hearing a corruption case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), alleging that then minister Gupta accepted Rs 5.3 million in bribes to halt the transfer of Ram Chandra Adhikari, chief of the Land Revenue Office, Kaski, and Rs 2.5 million to facilitate the appointment of Khamba Bahadur Pun as chairperson of the Land Problem Resolution Commission in Kaski.
An audio recording had also surfaced in which Gupta was heard negotiating Rs 5.3 million with a real estate entrepreneur to stop Adhikari’s transfer and Rs 2.5 million to secure a position in the Commission.
The anti-graft body filed a case at the Special Court against seven individuals, including former ministers Gupta and Shrestha, on October 8. Shrestha was handling the Land Management, Cooperative, and Poverty Alleviation portfolio at that time.
The CIAA has sought Rs 7.8 million in damages from Gupta and Shrestha.
Other defendants include Sujan Kumar Tamang, Yam Kumari Gurung, Tulsi Ram Budhamagar, then chief of the Land Revenue Office, Kaski Ram Chandra Adhikari, and Khamba Bahadur Pun.
