Special Court to Hear Corruption Cases Against Former Inland Revenue Chief Chudamani Sharma

The Special Court is set to hear two corruption cases against former Director General of the Inland Revenue Department, Chudamani Sharma, concerning the illegal accumulation of 'ill-gotten wealth' and tax evasion.

A hearing has been scheduled before the bench of Judge Narayan Prasad Poudel and Judge Dilliratna Shrestha for the case accusing Sharma, along with Lumbadhwaj Mahat, former chairman of the Tax Settlement Commission, and member Umesh Dhakal, of corruption by granting tax exemptions amounting to NPR 10 billion, 2 crore, 19 lakh, 1 thousand, and 824 rupees.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the case, concluding that the tax exemptions granted by the Tax Settlement Commission, chaired by Mahat, were corrupt as they did not demonstrate proper intent. It was found that some taxpayers who had reached settlement agreements with the Tax Settlement Commission, established in 2071 BS, were granted tax exemptions and waivers exceeding NPR 10.2 billion in bad faith.

Sharma and Dhakal were members of this commission. The CIAA claimed that the revenue due to the state was not collected because agreements were made with taxpayers in a manner beneficial to themselves, going beyond the mandate given to the commission.

Separately, another case was filed in the same year, 2071 BS, alleging that Sharma acquired illegal assets while serving as the Director General of the Inland Revenue Department on Magh 15. It was found that he had accumulated and spent assets worth over NPR 7 crore 93 lakh from his entry into government service in 2045 BS until 2073 BS.

According to the CIAA investigation, his legitimate income should have been NPR 3 crore 63 lakh, but the source of over NPR 4 crore 30 lakh remained unexplained. In this case, the CIAA named Sharma's wife, Kalpana Upreti Sharma, as a defendant alongside Sharma for the purpose of confiscation.

In this case, the Special Court had previously convicted Chudamani Sharma and others of revenue leakage. Sharma, along with Lumbadhwaj Mahat, Chairman of the Tax Settlement Commission, and member Umesh Dhakal, appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Special Court's verdict was flawed.

On Ashar 25, 2082 BS, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Saranga Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana deemed the Special Court's verdict flawed, raising questions about a fair hearing, and sent the case back to the Special Court for retrial. This is the first time the case is being retried at the Special Court since then.