Special Court Orders Evidence Hearing in Corruption Cases Against Former Inland Revenue Director General Chudamani Sharma

Kathmandu. The Special Court has ordered to take evidence in two corruption cases against former Director General of the Inland Revenue Department, Chudamani Sharma, related to illegally acquiring 'ill-gotten wealth' and revenue leakage. The bench of Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and members Umesh Koirala and Bidur Koirala has ordered to take and present evidence related to revenue matters as per the previous directive.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case alleging corruption in the amount of revenue forgone, stating that the Tax Settlement Commission did not appear to have acted with good intentions while waiving outstanding taxes. In this case, the Special Court had previously convicted Chudamani Sharma and others for revenue leakage. Sharma, along with Tax Settlement Commission Chairman Lumbhadhwaj Mahat and member Umesh Dhakal, was accused of corruption by waiving Rs 10 billion 2 crore 19 lakh 1 thousand 824 in revenue.

After the Special Court convicted them, Sharma and others, including Tax Settlement Commission Chairman Lumbhadhwaj Mahat and member Umesh Dhakal, approached the Supreme Court, stating that the verdict was flawed. On June 25, 2082, the bench of Supreme Court Justices Saranga Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana, raising questions about a fair hearing and pointing out that the Special Court's verdict was flawed, sent the case back to the Special Court for retrial. Since then, this case has been under retrial at the Special Court.

It was found that the tax settlement commission, chaired by Mahat, had maliciously waived or forgone more than Rs 10.02 billion in taxes to some taxpayers among those who had agreements for settlement from the Tax Settlement Commission in 2071 BS. Sharma and Dhakal were members of the commission. The CIAA claimed that the state did not receive the revenue it was supposed to because the commission entered into agreements with taxpayers for its own benefit, going beyond its mandate.

Similarly, on January 15, 2071 BS, another case was filed against Sharma, who was then working as the Director General of the Inland Revenue Department, for illegally acquiring wealth. It was found that he had accumulated and spent wealth equivalent to more than Rs 7 crore 93 lakh by 073 BS, having entered government service in 045 BS.

According to the CIAA's investigation, his legitimate income should have been Rs 3 crore 63 lakh, but the source of more than Rs 4 crore 30 lakh was not identified. In this case, the CIAA filed the lawsuit against Sharma as well as his wife Kalpana Upreti Sharma as a defendant for confiscation purposes.