According to Special Court´s Chairman Gauri Bahadur Karki, the court on Sunday will issue letters asking the accused to present themselves before the court within fifteen days. [break]
Concluding that Kansakar and five others officials embezzled Rs 57.3 million by sending non-refundable money to the Airbus Company flouting Public Procurement Act, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had moved the Special Court on Friday.
“We will issue a notice asking the accused to appear before the court within 15 days," said Karki. Five other officials accused of involvement in the scam are Acting Assistant General Managers Raju Bahadur KC and Ganesh Thakur, Acting Director Gyanendra Purush Dhakal, Director Mayur Sumsher Rana and Acting Deputy Director Keshav Raj Sharma.
According to Judge Karki, the court will give another 15 days if those summoned by the court submit written application citing inability to appear before the court due to bad health.
If the accused appear before the court by the stipulated time, the court may either issue an order to send them to custody, accept a bail application or release them on normal date. As per the provisions of Anti-Corruption Act, the Special Court should complete hearing on any corruption case within six months from the date in which the case is filed.
CIAA didn´t arrest Kansakar
Meanwhile, it has been disclosed that the anti-graft body didn´t initiate any steps to arrest Kansakar before moving Special Court as required by Anti-Corruption Act-2059 BS.
As per the legal provisions, the CIAA is required to arrest and file the charge sheet by presenting the accused before the court.
Asked about CIAA´s efforts to arrest Kansakar and other accused, Chief Investigation Officer Dilli Raman Acharya said, “We issued a summon asking them to appear before CIAA on October 4 but they ignored it.”
According to a CIAA source, the commission didn´t officially ask Ministry of Home Affairs to arrest Kansakar and others before filing the case. “There was massive political pressure to prevent CIAA from filing the case against Kansakar and others. CIAA filed the case despite such pressure and that is a meaningful achievement,” the source added.
According to the findings of CIAA investigation, the decision to release and forward Rs 57.3 million to Airbus was taken without the approval of the NAC board of directors.
“The decision to forward non-refundable commitment money (also known as lock up money) worth Rs 57.3 million to the aircraft manufacturer was taken under Kansakar´s direct orders. Our investigation concludes that Kansakar grossly misused his authority while taking the decision to release and forward non-refundable money to Airbus,” states the charge-sheet filed at the Special Court.
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