Airbus A330 purchase scandal: Public Accounts Committee endorses sub-panel report after amendments
Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament on Sunday endorsed the report of sub-committee on the procurement of two wide-body jets for Nepal Airlines Corporation after making some amendments to it.
Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament on Sunday endorsed the report of sub-committee on the procurement of two wide-body jets for Nepal Airlines Corporation after making some amendments to it.
The then Tourism Secretary Prem Kumar Rai, who has been named in the report for immediate suspension, has been given clean-chit while legal action has been recommended against incumbent Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari and former ministers Jivan Bahadur Shahi and Jitendra Dev.
Rai was acquitted after it was found that he only formed a sub-committee to buy new aircrafts and not initiated the process to purchase the old aircraft for NAC. Minister Adhikari, Shahi and Dev have been recommended for legal action as they did not taking cautionary measures though the purchase process was against the Public Procurement Act.
The panel has decided to direct the government and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to take action against three ministers as recommended by the sub-committee’s report.
The panel has also directed investigation against the members of sub-committees formed during the aircraft purchase deal.
The panel had failed to endorse the report on Friday after lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties remained sharply divided over the report. Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmakers demanded the report should be revised calling it erroneous, while opposition Nepali Congress lawmakers stood for its endorsement without major changes.
Following widespread criticisms of financial irregularities in the procurement of two wide-body jets, the Public Accounts Committee had formed a subcommittee headed by Nepali Congress MP Rajan KC to investigate the aircraft purchase deal.
The KC report has held 34 incumbent and former government officials responsible in one of the largest corruption scandals in the country’s history.
It charges Minister Adhikari, Secretary Krishna Prasad Devkota and NAC Managing Director Sugat Ratna Kansakar, among others, with misappropriating at least Rs4.35 billion while procuring the planes.
Besides minister Shahi and Dev, action has also been sought against former aviation secretaries Shankar Prasad Adhikari and Maheshwor Neupane.
Sailendra Adhikari is an online reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering a wide range of issues, including politics, society, sports, arts and entertainment.
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