Former Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba Named Defendant in Passport Printing Case

Kathmandu. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed a case in the Special Court against former Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba in the passport printing case. The commission filed the charge sheet after completing the investigation on Monday. According to sources in the Special Court, the commission has named former Foreign Minister Rana and 18 others as defendants.

The commission has presented the Director General of the Department of Passports, Tirtha Raj Aryal, who is in the commission's judicial custody, the department's Information Technology Director Sunil Kumar KC, the department's then Accounts Officer Tulsi Prasad Acharya, and the Nepali representative of the German company Mulbauer, Munindra Raj Malla, along with seven others, to the court with the charge sheet. 

The commission's investigation has concluded that approximately 8 billion rupees were misappropriated in the passport case. The Department of Passports had called for a global tender in Mangsir 2081 for the supply of 6.4 million new electronic passports for five years and the management of its system. To evaluate the bid, then Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba had formed a bid evaluation committee on Falgun 9, 2081, under the leadership of the department's Director General Tirtha Raj Aryal. On the same date, a sub-committee was formed under the leadership of the department's Information Technology Director Sunil KC, comprising technical staff. The investigation officials stated that both committees approved the contract in the name of the company specified by Arzu.

The printing contract was awarded to German companies Veridos and Mulbauer. Mulbauer received a package of 1.55 billion and Veridos received a contract of 6.55 billion. The Nepal representatives for Veridos are Siddharth Thapa and for Mulbauer are Munindra Raj Malla.

Work on passport printing and system management has not started as per the contract agreement. However, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers had pressured the CIAA to investigate, claiming that the procurement rules were violated in the bidding process and contract. At that time, the French company Idemia had withdrawn from the bidding process.