Special Court Orders Witness Examination in Corruption Case Against Suspended Bagmati Municipality Mayor

Kathmandu. The Special Court has ordered the examination of witnesses in the corruption case against the suspended Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, Sarlahi, Bharat Kumar Thapa.

On Tuesday, the bench comprising Special Court judges Narayan Prasad Poudel, Umesh Koirala, and Bidur Koirala ordered the examination of evidence and witnesses in the corruption case against Thapa and 8 others.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has sought a claim of Rs 567.1 million each against Mayor Thapa, Deputy Mayor Lilakumar Moktan, and former Minister Vijaykumar. Bimalkumar Pokhrel, Sagar Poudel, Bishwaraj Poudel, Niranjan Lamichhane, Vijaykumar, Gokul Bhujel, and Lila Kumari Muktan have been named as defendants. The suspended Mayor Thapa and others are accused of committing offenses under the former Forest Act, 2049, and the prevailing Forest Act, 2076, by constructing illegal structures, including fish ponds, in the name of fish pond construction.

The CIAA had filed a case against Thapa, claiming that he had embezzled more than Rs 567.1 million in the name of constructing fish ponds, demanding the same amount as compensation.

According to the Commission, funds from the federal and provincial governments were misappropriated by demanding crores of rupees in the name of constructing fish ponds in the pits created by encroaching upon the forest area of the Sagarmatha Forest Development Project, located in Wards No. 4 and 12 of Bagmati, and excavating stones, gravel, sand, and soil.

It is also alleged that grants were taken repeatedly from the Madhesh Province Government for fishless ponds, and then-Finance and Planning Minister Vijaykumar signed an MoU and provided a grant of Rs 300 million even though construction was incomplete.