Widebody Aircraft Corruption Case Postponed by Supreme Court After Judge Recuses Self

The corruption case related to the purchase of the Widebody aircraft has been placed on the 'not to be heard' list. The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday before a joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Sharanga Subedi and Meghraj Pokharel. The hearing was postponed because Justice Pokharel had previously recused himself from this case.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed an appeal in the Supreme Court after the Special Court convicted only 10 out of 32 individuals in the Widebody aircraft purchase scandal.

The CIAA had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Special Court's decision which acquitted defendants, including former Tourism Minister and Nepali Congress leader Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, or handed down lighter sentences.

While former Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Chairman and Tourism Secretary Shankar Adhikari, NAC General Manager Sugatratna Kansakar, and board members Buddhisagar Lamichhane and Shishir Dhungana were convicted, former Tourism Minister Jeevan Kumar Shahi and others were acquitted.

The CIAA approached the Supreme Court after the Special Court delivered its verdict last year on the case filed by the CIAA, alleging corruption in the purchase of two Widebody aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation. The CIAA appealed because although some defendants were convicted in that verdict, Jeevan Bahadur Shahi and some others were acquitted, and the compensation and sentences sought were not fully awarded.

The CIAA claimed that corruption amounting to 1 billion 47 crore 10 lakh 85 thousand 4 hundred 82 rupees and 85 paisa occurred in the Widebody purchase case. The Commission alleged that an overpayment of 67 lakh 88 thousand 109 US dollars and 60 cents (Nepali 74 crore 58 lakh 77 thousand 482 rupees) was made to the supplier with malicious intent.

Furthermore, the CIAA claims that a loss of 66 lakh US dollars (Nepali 72 crore 52 lakh 8 thousand rupees) was incurred because payment was made for the 242-ton capacity aircraft even though aircraft with a 230-ton capacity were delivered, without reducing the price for the 12-ton difference.

The CIAA asserts that even though the Special Court convicted former General Manager Sugatratna Kansakar, former Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari, and others, not all defendants received the sentences demanded by the Commission, and action was not taken according to the claimed compensation amount.