Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court in Kathmandu against Madhesh Province Assembly member Saroj Kumar Singh and 15 others, accusing them of embezzling more than Rs 13.6 million.
According to the CIAA, Singh, who was elected from Mahottari-4(B) constituency of Madhesh Province Assembly, diverted funds deposited in the accounts of various consumer committees by transferring the money, through his personal secretary Binod Kumar Lal Kayastha, into a joint account held by himself and his wife, Sarita Kumari Mahato Singh.
Singh is a provincial lawmaker from the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal. This is not the first time that he has been charged with corruption. The CIAA had earlier filed a similar case against him for misappropriating the funds of consumer committees. Although Singh was suspended at the time, he was later cleared of the charges.
Investigations revealed that during fiscal year 2021/22, funds from the Provincial Parliamentary Development Fund were allocated to several consumer committees in Ramgopalpur Municipality, Manra Siswa Municipality and Samsi Rural Municipality. The allocations were made under names such as Devi Maharani Beautification Consumer Committee, Radhwa Peepal Gurukul Academy–Anherbhatsthan Road Upgrading Committee, Kamalamai Temple Construction Committee, Kanchaniyamai Temple Beautification Committee, Maisthan Temple Beautification Committee and Dharmashala Construction Committee, among others.
Out of the total Rs 13,627,481 deposited in the name of these committees at Laxmi Bank (now Laxmi Sunrise Bank), Singh allegedly withdrew Rs 3,850,319 into his joint account with his wife as kickback. The CIAA said he also funneled part of the amount through his personal secretary’s account and distributed it as bribes and kickbacks.
The CIAA has sought punishment for Singh and 15 others — including Ramesh Madar, Amlesh Kumari, Diparajdevi Rajput, Bhikhari Raut Kurmi, Bhupendra Kumar Jha, Manju Devi Pasman, Ramnath Sahani, Swikrity Devi, Ramsharan Khatwe, Bibha Devi Khatwe, Shambhu Kumar Mandal, Yogendra Mahato, Sunayana Kumari, Yamuna Prasad Mahato and Kaushilya Devi.
