KATHMANDU, Dec 9: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against six individuals including the then chief of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office in Dang over alleged irregularities in the deep boring construction under the Harigaun Water Supply Project.
According to the CIAA, the project cost estimate of Rs 3.063 million for Fiscal Year 2023/24 had been approved and the procurement process initiated. However, former Division Chief Bhola Prasad Thapa, engineer Basanta Kumar Dulal, section officer (sixth level) Madhav Prasad Timilsena, sub-engineer Nutan Acharya and accountant Manoj Bista were found to have colluded with Jay Kali Drilling Construction and Suppliers Pvt Ltd to restrict competition in the bidding process, states the charge sheet.
CIAA files corruption case worth Rs 103 million against six peo...
The CIAA noted that although the Public Procurement Regulations clearly prohibit setting such qualification requirements for works costing less than Rs 20 million, the officials added provisions arbitrarily, in violation of the rules.
Only two companies participated in the bidding. Diyalo Drilling Pvt Ltd had submitted a bid of Rs 1.803 million, but the office disqualified the company citing lack of a certain certification. As a result, the bid submitted by Jay Kali Drilling—amounting to Rs 2.915 million—was accepted. By removing competition, the state incurred a financial loss of approximately Rs 1.11 million, the CIAA concluded.
Citing violations of various sections of the Corruption Prevention Act, 2059, the CIAA has filed charges against the five government employees, the contracting company, and its managing director Shekhar Sharma, seeking separate recovery amounts and penalties.
Deputy Spokesperson Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari stated that an equal liability of Rs 1.11 million has been assigned to each of the government employees, while similar punishment has been sought against the contractor company and managing director Sharma as principal offenders.
