Impeachment filed against Passport Department officials over e-passport corruption

Kathmandu. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed a charge sheet at the Special Court, determining that the Department of Passports committed corruption exceeding 10 billion 13 crore rupees in the e-passport printing and system procurement process.

The commission has concluded that government officials and representatives of foreign companies colluded in the two packages of tenders called by the department, causing billions of rupees in losses to the state.

The commission has filed a case against the department's Director General Tirtharaj Aryal, Director (Information Technology) Sunil Kumar KC, former Director Shatrudhwan Prasad Sharma Pokharel, former Director Rabindra Rajbhandari, former Accounts Officer Tulsi Prasad Acharya, Computer Engineer Bipin Prasai, former Section Officer Somesh Thapa, former Under Secretary (Law) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rajaram Dahal, former Under Secretary (Accounts) Bhesh Prasad Bhurtel, and former Under Secretary (Law) Pushkarraj Nepal, with a claim of 10 billion 13 crore 4 lakh 61 thousand 477 rupees and 01 paisa in principal amount.

Similarly, a case has been filed against Mulbauer Company and its representatives Gerhard Maurer, Pavle Rakic, and Manindra Raj Malla, with a claim of 1 billion 90 crore 69 lakh 57 thousand 32 rupees and 62 paisa in principal amount. Furthermore, a claim of 8 billion 22 crore 35 lakh 4 thousand 4 hundred 44 rupees and 39 paisa has been established against Veridos and its representatives Fabiola Bellesheim, Florian Pakuln, and Siddharth Thapa, demanding imprisonment similar to the main culprits, fines equivalent to the principal amount, and recovery of 18 crore 44 lakh rupees.

Officials of the Department of Passports altered the tender conditions and criteria in violation of the Public Procurement Act and Regulations to award the contract to two German companies, Mulbauer and Veridos. It has been found that the contract was awarded and partial payments were made with malicious decisions in the technical and financial evaluation.

The Department of Passports had called for a global tender in Mangsir 2081 for the supply of 6.4 million new electronic passports and their system management for five years. On the same date, a sub-committee comprising technical staff under the leadership of Sunil KC, Director of Information Technology at the department, was formed. Both committees approved the contract in the names of the companies as per Arju's instructions, according to an official involved in the investigation.

The printing contract was awarded to German companies Veridos and Mulbauer. Mulbauer received a package worth 1 billion 55 crore rupees, and Veridos received a contract worth 6 billion 55 crore rupees. The Nepal representatives for Veridos are Siddharth Thapa, and for Mulbauer, it is Munindra Raj Malla.

The work of passport printing and system management has not yet started as per the contract agreement. However, the Prime Minister's Office and Council of Ministers had pressured the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority to investigate, claiming that the procurement regulations were violated in the tender process and agreement. At that time, the French company Idemia had withdrawn from the tender process.