Kathmandu, November 8
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) decided not to prosecute three former ministers in the Biratnagar land swap case.
The anti-corruption body had filed corruption charges against 97 people, including former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Dr Minendra Prasad Rijal, who chaired the Cabinet’s Social Committee, over the decision to allow the exchange of land that should have been nationalised.
However, the CIAA decided not to prosecute three other former ministers — then health and population minister Umakanta Chaudhary, then peace and reconstruction minister Rakam Chemjong, and then state minister for land reform and management Man Bahadur Shahi.
The three were members of the Cabinet’s Social Committee. During questioning, they said they had only recently learned that the decision on the land exchange was not supposed to be made.
They also stated that, while serving on the Social Committee, they were familiar only with matters related to their respective ministries.
According to their statements, Social Committee chairperson Dr Rijal dictated the decision to the committee’s secretary, Ramchandra Man Singh, who then prepared the decision and handled the related correspondence.
The CIAA said the Social Committee’s decision of January 1, 2010, also supported this account.
Its decision stated that the three former ministers appeared to have been present only during the proceedings and decision-making process. It therefore decided to take no action against them for the time being, while reserving the right to proceed in accordance with the law if further evidence emerged.
