Corruption Case Against Former Vice-Chancellor of Rapti Health Sciences Academy Set for Hearing

The hearing date has been set for the corruption case against former Vice-Chancellor of Rapti Health Sciences Academy, Prof. Dr. Sangita Singh Bhandari, and 12 others. The case is scheduled to be heard by the bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta, Judge Hemanta Rawal, and Judge Umesh Koirala.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the corruption case at the Special Court on Ashoj 23, concluding that corruption occurred during the purchase of an MRI machine, implicating Vice-Chancellor Bhandari and 12 others.

The CIAA filed the case against Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Sangita Singh Bhandari, acting Registrar Jhankar Lamichhane, Finance Manager Kailash Prasad Dev, Biomedical Engineers Sharad Bhandari and Amitkumar Chaudhary, Deputy Finance Manager Nitin Kurmi, Section Officers Chhaya D.C. and Shriram Chaudhary, I.T. Officer Hiralal Bhandari, Civil Engineer Madan Bhandari, and Senior Assistant Anju Sharma.

Furthermore, Sujata Bhattarai, former Biomedical Engineer at the Department of Health Services, the supplier company Lumbini Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., and its Chairman Postaraj Gyawali were also named as defendants.

The Commission demanded a total compensation amount of NPR 120,760,946 from all defendants and sought recovery of NPR 93,426,619 that has already been paid.

The CIAA concluded that corruption occurred due to collusion between the academy's officials and the supplier company following an investigation into complaints of financial irregularities in the purchase of a low-quality MRI machine. 

According to the CIAA, the academy sought a budget without preparing a procurement master plan or identifying needs. Technical specifications were prepared in a manner favorable to a specific company (Lumbini Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.), violating the Public Procurement Act.