Valley
Sharma faces Special Court summons
The Special Court is preparing to issue a notice in the name of Chudamani Sharma, the suspended director general of the Inland Revenue Department, to face a trial in the court on a corruption case filed by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority.The Special Court is preparing to issue a notice in the name of Chudamani Sharma, the suspended director general of the Inland Revenue Department, to face a trial in the court on a corruption case filed by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ordered Sharma’s release from police custody in response to a writ of habeas corpus filed by Sharma’s wife Kalpana Upreti Sharma.
The court had also ruled that the Special Court would decide on the corruption charge levelled against Sharma while settling taxes under the Tax Settlement Commission, a “quasi-judicial” body.
The CIAA had filed the corruption case against three TSC members including its Chairman Lumba Dhowj Mahat and members Sharma and Umesh Dhakal, charging them with embezzling Rs10.02 billion while settling tax dues with enterprises in a “dubious” way.
“We have received all the documents sent to the Supreme Court,” said a Special Court official. “The Special Court will now issue a notice in the name of Sharma to present himself for trial within this week.”
The Special Court has the tradition of sending the accused on trial right after the case is filed. The CIAA, which filed the case, is also studying the SC’s verdict and its
implications after the court decided that the corruption watchdog had failed to establish embezzlement of “undisputed revenue”.
“We have instructed our legal and revenue departments to interpret the SC’s verdict so that it gives us an idea on how to approach the Special Court,” said CIAA Commissioner Ganesh Raj Joshi.