Corruption Case Against Former Pashupati Area Development Trust Member Secretary and 13 Others Set for Hearing

Kathmandu. The corruption case against 14 individuals, including the former Member Secretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), Dr. Milan Kumar Thapa, has been scheduled for hearing. The hearing will take place before a bench comprising special court judges Narayan Prasad Paudel, Umesh Koirala, and Bidur Koirala.

The corruption case was filed against Member Secretary Thapa and 13 others in connection with the purchase of a cremation machine at Pashupati. They are accused of preparing an unusually inflated cost estimate for a cremation machine valued at Indian Rupees 3,250,000 by showing it as Nepali Rupees 15,200,000 and adding the discount allowed by prevailing law to the estimated cost.

In the case, besides Member Secretary Dr. Thapa, the defendants include the then Acting Member Secretary Rajukumar Khatri, the then Executive Director Ghanshyam Khatiwada, the current Deputy Director Revatiraman Adhikari, the then Acting Deputy Director Sitaram Risel, engineers Pashupati Thakur, Dennis Upreti, Ramesh Puri, and others.

Furthermore, the defendants in the case also include Accounts Officer of the Pashupati Area Development Trust Chandra Prasad Khanal, Head of the Electrical Department at Pulchowk Campus Associate Professor Yuvraj Adhikari, Legal Advisor and Evaluation Committee Member of the Pashupati Area Development Trust Lain Bahadur Thapa, proprietors of Supplier Company Map Entrepreneurs Manoj Puri and Yadunandan Bhattarai, and Managing Director of Apple Engineering Suraj Chapagain. A claim for compensation of NPR 18.2 million has been sought from each of the defendants.