Corruption case hearing scheduled for former Health Services Department Director General Dr. Sangita Kaushal Mishra

Kathmandu. A hearing has been scheduled for the corruption case involving former Director General of the Department of Health Services, Dr. Sangita Kaushal Mishra. The case is set to be heard by a special court bench consisting of judges Narayan Prasad Poudel, Umesh Koirala, and Bidur Koirala.

On 2082 Kartik 2, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case in the Special Court against Mishra and 13 others, alleging irregularities in the procurement process of mammography machines for the Department of Health Services.

The corruption charges were filed against Mishra, along with Management Division Director Dr. Shravan Kumar Thapa, Director Bibek Kumar Lal, Senior Health Administrator Dr. Surendra Prasad Chaurasiya, Chief Accounting Controller Bhuwan Prasad Kafle, Maxim Incorporation Traders Pvt. Ltd. founder-director Sundar Bhusal, and other employees and engineers.

The defendants are accused of colluding from the preparation of cost estimates to the final payment, causing a loss of over 140 million rupees to the state. The investigation revealed that the cost estimate was prepared based on rates obtained from Shubha Biomedical Concern Pvt. Ltd., another company owned by Sundar Bhusal, the founder of the winning contractor, Maxim Incorporation Traders Pvt. Ltd., which was found to be abnormally high.

The approved cost estimate was 127.5 million rupees excluding taxes, while the supplier bid 125.5 million rupees. The CIAA stated in the charge sheet that the total payment to the manufacturing company was confirmed to be only about 68.5 million rupees.