KATHMANDU, Oct 12: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court in Kathmandu on Sunday against three individuals including the acting chief administrative officer of Madhav Narayan Municipality in Rautahat.
According to the CIAA, the accused — then Acting Chief Administrative Officer Pralab Kayastha, Accountant Ram Balam Prasad Yadav, and Ajit Kumar Karna, the Director of Rautahat Advertising Agency Pvt. Ltd. — colluded to conceal information regarding the public bidding process for the construction of a building at Devi Secondary School, Sakhuarwa (Ward No. 3) under contract number MNM/Works/2/077/078 during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2077/78.
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The anti-graft body stated that officials failed to publish the invitation to bid and notice of intention to award the contract in a national daily newspaper as required by the Public Procurement Act. Instead, they allegedly produced fake newspaper copies and false invoices to claim payment for publication services that were never carried out.
An investigation confirmed that the notices were not published publicly. The Press Council Nepal verified that no such publication was available in its digital archives.
The CIAA found that the accused had submitted limited printed copies under the name of a so-called “City Post National Daily Newspaper” to make it appear that the notices were properly published. Based on these falsified documents, the municipality released a payment of Rs. 257,970 to Rautahat Advertising Agency Pvt Ltd.
The anti-graft body said the trio acted with ill intent to gain illegal benefits and inflict financial loss on the municipality. The CIAA has demanded that the Special Court impose legal punishment in accordance with the Prevention of Corruption Act.
