Government Spokesperson Gokul Prasad Banskota has said investigation into the alleged irregularities in the procurement of two wide-body aircraft is underway.

Banskota, who is also the minister for communications and information technology, said at a press conference organised to make public the decisions taken by the Cabinet on Thursday that the government was serious about the issue. The government on January 3 formed another commission to probe the controversial procurement of the two Airbus planes by the Nepal Airlines Corporation after a subcommittee of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee concluded that the A330 jet purchase deal had caused losses worth Rs4.35 billion to the exchequer.

The commission headed by former chief judge Govinda Prasad Parajuli has former deputy attorney general Narendra Prasad Pathak and chartered accountant Madan Sharma as members.

The subcommittee had recommended action against former tourism ministers Jivan Bahadur Shahi, Jitendra Dev and sitting minister Rabindra Adhikari, secretaries, and Nepal Airlines Managing Director Sugat Ratna Kansakar, among others, for their involvement in the embezzlement surrounding the procurement.