Court Orders Release of Kavita Paudel on Rs 5 Lakh Bail in Visit Visa Bribery Case

Kathmandu. The Special Court has ordered the release of Kavita Paudel on a bail of NPR 5 lakh, who was accused of playing a role in hiding bribe money in the visit visa scandal.

On Tuesday, the bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and members Hemanta Rawal and Dilliratna Shrestha ordered Paudel to be released upon posting a bail of NPR 5 lakh. Two cases were filed against Paudel: one for corruption (bribe/kickback) and another for money laundering.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) claims that Paudel was directly involved in sending people abroad on visit visas through a 'setting' in collusion with the then Chief Immigration Officer of the Immigration Office, Tirtharaj Bhattarai. Paudel was accused of acting as Bhattarai's 'accomplice' to manage illegally collected funds and invest them in real estate.

The CIAA had filed a case against her, claiming a misappropriated amount of NPR 79 lakh 80 thousand in the corruption case and NPR 1 crore 3 lakh 79 thousand 6 hundred in the money laundering case. The charge sheet alleged that property was laundered by purchasing land in Paudel's name using money earned by Bhattarai as a bribe.

In her statement before the court, Paudel stated that she was innocent and only knew Tirtharaj Bhattarai because he was an elder brother from her village, and they only had casual acquaintance and conversation. She asserted that she had not engaged in any illegal activities.

However, the court determined that based on the evidence, including the diary recovered from the defendant, telephone contacts, and message exchanges, she could not be immediately declared innocent. The order stated that based on the evidence attached to the case file, it was not necessary to keep her in custody for trial, but rather to demand bail, hence the order for a bail of NPR 5 lakh was issued.