Hearing Postponed in Corruption Case Against Suspended Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, Sarlahi

The hearing in the corruption case against Bharat Kumar Thapa, the suspended mayor of Bagmati Municipality in Sarlahi, has been postponed. The hearing, scheduled before the bench of Special Court judges Narayan Prasad Poudel and Bidur Koirala, was deferred after lawyers representing Thapa filed a petition.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against Thapa, claiming corruption exceeding NPR 567.1 million in the name of constructing fish ponds, demanding the same amount as compensation.

The CIAA alleges that millions of rupees were misappropriated by demanding funds from the federal and provincial governments in the name of constructing fish ponds in pits created by excavating stones, gravel, sand, and soil by encroaching upon the forest area of the Sagarnath Forest Development Project, located in Wards 4 and 12 of Bagmati.

The Commission has sought compensation of NPR 567.1 million each from Mayor Thapa, Deputy Mayor Lilakumar Moktan, and former Minister Vijay Kumar.

The CIAA has named Mayor Thapa, Bimalkumar Pokharel, Sagar Poudel, Bishwaraj Pokharel, Niranjan Lamichhane, Vijay Kumar, Gokul Bhujel, and Leela Kumari Muktan as defendants. The defendants are accused of committing offenses under the former Forest Act, 2049, and the prevailing Forest Act, 2076, by constructing illegal structures, including ponds, in the name of fish pond construction.

It is alleged that former Minister of Finance and Planning, Vijaykumar, signed an MoU and provided a grant of NPR 300 million, claiming that grants were repeatedly received from the Madhesh Province government for ponds that lacked fish and were incomplete.