Corruption Case Against Former Vice-Chancellor of Rapti Academy of Health Sciences Postponed

The hearing for the corruption case against former Vice-Chancellor of Rapti Academy of Health Sciences, Prof. Dr. Sangita Singh Bhandari, and 12 others has been postponed.

The case was scheduled for hearing on Thursday before the bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta, Judge Hemanta Rawal, and Judge Umesh Koirala. The hearing was postponed at the request of the legal counsel representing Vice-Chancellor Bhandari.

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 involving Vice-Chancellor Bhandari and 12 others.

The CIAA had filed the case against Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Sangita Singh Bhandari, then Acting Registrar Jhankar Lamichhane, Finance Manager Kailash Prasad Dev, Biomedical Engineers Sharad Bhandari and Amit Kumar Chaudhary, Deputy Finance Manager Nitin Kurmi, Section Officers Chhaya D.C. and Shriram Chaudhary, IT Officer Hiralal Bhandari, Civil Engineer Madan Bhandari, and Senior Assistant Anju Sharma. Also named as defendants were Sujata Bhattarai, then Biomedical Engineer at the Department of Health Services, and the supplier company Lumbini Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. along with its Chairman Post Raj Gyawali.

The Commission demanded recovery of a total principal amount of NPR 120,760,946 from all defendants and sought punishment. It also demanded the recovery of NPR 93,426,619 that had 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 demanded a budget without preparing a procurement plan or identifying needs. The technical specifications were prepared in a manner favorable to a specific company (Lumbini Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.), violating the Public Procurement Act.