Three Government Witnesses Charged in Corruption Case

Kathmandu. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed charges against three individuals presented as government witnesses in a corruption case ongoing at the Special Court today. The commission filed the case against them after it was confirmed that they appeared in court and changed their statements. The individuals charged are Biplav Pokharel, Pralhad Gautam, and Rajesh Shrestha.

They were government witnesses in a bribery/corruption case registered at the Special Court under case number 082-CR-0120, with the plaintiff being the Government of Nepal and the defendant being Dhundiraj Dahal. During the investigation, they were presented as government witnesses without being made defendants, with full exemption from punishment under Section 55 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059, for assisting the investigating officer. However, they appeared at the Special Court, Kathmandu, and on the 25th of Baishakh, 2083, gave testimony contrary to the statements made before the commission's investigating officer.

During the investigation, it was confirmed that defendant Biplav Pokharel gave a bribe of Rs 27,350 on behalf of R.S.V. Metal and Rs 29,000 on behalf of Abhiyanta Nepal, totaling Rs 56,350 to defendant Dhundiraj Dahal for facilitating the payment process. Similarly, Pralhad Gautam gave a bribe of Rs 37,500 on behalf of Shubhshree Technologies and others, and Rajesh Shrestha gave Rs 27,350 through Biplav Pokharel, totaling Rs 93,850 to Dahal, the authority stated. The authority has filed charges at the Special Court, Kathmandu, seeking punishment for their actions, which have been determined to be offenses under Section 3, Sub-section (3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059, despite their change in testimony in court, informed Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari, Assistant Spokesperson for the Commission.