Former Secretary Released on Bail in Pokhara International Airport Corruption Case

Kathmandu. The Special Court has ordered the release on bail of Sushil Ghimire, former Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, in the corruption case related to the construction of the Pokhara International Airport.

On Tuesday, the bench comprising Special Court members Narayan Prasad Poudel, Umesh Koirala, and Bidur Koirala ordered Ghimire to be released on a bail of NPR 150,000 (one lakh fifty thousand rupees). The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against Ghimire, alleging corruption through an unnatural inflation of the cost of the Pokhara International Airport.

Ghimire was accused of colluding with the Chinese company 'China CAMC Engineering' while serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), inflating the estimated cost by US$ 74.343450 million (approximately NPR 8.367325297 billion).