Special Court Begins Hearing Corruption Case Against Suspended Mayor of Bagmati Municipality

The hearing has begun at the Special Court in the corruption case against Bharat Kumar Thapa, the suspended mayor of Bagmati Municipality in Sarlahi district.

The case against Thapa is being heard on Tuesday by a bench comprising Special Court judges Narayan Prasad Poudel, Umesh Koirala, and Bidur Koirala.

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 funds from the federal and provincial governments were misappropriated by demanding crores of rupees in the name of constructing fish ponds in pits created by encroaching upon forest areas of the Sagarnath Forest Development Project, located in Wards 4 and 12 of Bagmati, and excavating stone, gravel, sand, and soil.

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

The CIAA has named Mayor Thapa, along with Bimalkumar Pokharel, Sagar Poudel, Bishwaraj Pokharel, Niranjan Lamichhane, Vijaykumar, Gokul Bhujel, and Lila 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 also alleged that grants were repeatedly taken from the Madhesh Province government for ponds without fish, and that the then Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, Vijaykumar, signed an MoU and provided a grant of NPR 300 million even when construction was incomplete.