KATHMANDU, Nov 4: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed its first corruption case against a former prime minister on June 5, 2025, accusing former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal of allowing the sale of government land granted to Patanjali Yogpeeth and Ayurved Company for establishing an industry and hospital.
Until then, no former prime minister had faced a corruption case over Cabinet decisions, which were generally treated as policy matters even when allegations of wrongdoing were involved. The Nepal-led government had approved the sale of 815 ropanis of land in Sanga, Kavrepalanchok, originally provided for specific purposes.
Nepal had deposited Rs 3.5 million in bail in that case. He now faces another corruption case involving a similar land deal.
On Tuesday, the CIAA filed a case at the Special Court, accusing Nepal of allowing the sale of 10 bighas of land held above the statutory land ceiling in the name of Rijal Canning and Company Pvt Ltd while he was prime minister.
Former Federal Affairs and Culture Minister Minendra Rijal and 95 others have also been named as defendants. The CIAA has sought to recover Rs 734.9 million in damages from the accused, including former Land Reform and Management Secretary Chhabiraj Pant and Joint Secretary Ramesh Chandra Adhikari.
How land granted for a fruit industry was sold
Rijal Canning and Company Pvt Ltd was registered at the Department of Industry in 1965 in the name of Nagendra Prasad Rijal. A decade later, Nagendra Prasad Rijal became prime minister. The company was granted an exemption from the land ceiling, allowing it to hold 59 bighas and nine katthas of land in Morang and Sunsari for operating a fruit processing industry.
On June 16, 1984, an additional 10 bighas and 17 katthas of land granted for the industry was transferred to Rijal Tashi Industries, according to the CIAA charge sheet.
High-profile corruption cases pending at Supreme Court for two...
In 1991, the government formed a high-level committee to investigate whether private industries were using land acquired through land ceiling exemptions for their designated purposes.
The investigation found that Rijal Canning and Company had violated the conditions by using the land for purposes other than operating a fruit industry. The committee recommended confiscating the property.
The government subsequently ordered the confiscation of all land held in the company's name and froze its properties. The Morang District Police Office also requested the Land Reform Office to confiscate plots 71 and 48 and hand them over to the police, citing the company's failure to meet the conditions and its private use of the land.
In 2005, the Land Reform Office reported that the frozen land had been left abandoned and was not being used for its designated purpose. However, investigators found that the accused themselves had lifted the freeze on September 28, 2006.
The land had become overgrown with bushes and was being used as a dumping site. On August 23, 2009, the company applied for permission to swap the property with land elsewhere.
The Morang Land Reform Office forwarded the proposal to the Department of Land Reform and Management, which subsequently sent it to the ministry despite the company's failure to comply with the original conditions attached to the land exemption.
On October 23, 2009, section officer Ramesh Kumar Ojha and other officials at the Land Reform Office submitted a report stating that the land was largely vacant, although a few mango trees stood on it. The report recommended against approving the swap.
The company later submitted another application, accompanied by a recommendation from the then Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan City and a soil testing report.
Despite knowing that the company had violated the conditions under which it received the land, officials forwarded the proposal through the department to the ministry. The stated justification was that the existing site was unsuitable for a fruit industry and that the company should be allowed to sell it and purchase land elsewhere.
The CIAA alleges that the process was driven by malicious intent.
On December 22, 2009, the ministry decided to forward the proposal to the Cabinet. On December 31, Rijal, who chaired the Cabinet's Social Committee, approved it.
The CIAA has also alleged a conflict of interest on Rijal's part in the decision-making process.
Valuable land sold for Rs 83.8 million
Following government approval, Rijal Canning and Company sold the land it had held above the statutory ceiling and purchased four bighas in the former Banigama Village Development Committee of Morang.
On February 3, 2010, the company purchased the Banigama land for Rs 1.285 million. On the same day, it sold the more valuable land in the former Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan City for Rs 83.8 million.
The land purchased in Banigama was also supposed to be used to establish a fruit processing industry. However, no industry was ever established there. The site is now occupied by a flowing stream.
The CIAA has sought prison sentences and recovery of the claimed losses from Nepal, Rijal and the other defendants.
According to CIAA spokesperson Suresh Neupane, the land should have remained under government ownership but was illegally sold. The charge sheet also seeks confiscation of the property from its current owners.
The commission says the disputed land is currently registered in the names of 43 individuals.
