Seven Including Passport Department Director General Give Statements in E-Passport Corruption Case

Kathmandu. Statements of seven people including the Director General of the Department of Passports, Tirtha Raj Aryal, against whom a corruption case has been filed in the e-passport printing irregularity case, have been completed. The statements of seven people including Aryal have been completed in the bench of Special Court judges Narayan Prasad Poudel, Hemant Rawal, and Umesh Koirala.

With the completion of the statements of seven people, as the hearing on detention is still pending, all those present in the court have been sent to judicial custody and the hearing on detention will take place tomorrow only, informed Parvati Hitan, Information Officer of the Special Court.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had presented the Director General of the Department, Aryal, along with Director Sunil Kumar KC, then Accounts Officer Tulsi Prasad Acharya, then Section Officer Somesh Thapa, Computer Engineer Bipin Prasai, then Deputy Secretary (Law) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rajaram Dahal, and Nepal representative of German company Muhlbauer, Munindra Raj Malla, in court on Monday in connection with the e-passport printing case.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had filed a case on Monday, determining that more than 10 billion 13 crore rupees had been embezzled in the e-passport printing case.

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 in losses to the state.