Govt attorney’s office files case against 290 people including Secretary Raut

Published On: August 28, 2023 08:15 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

Lalita Niwas Case: Prosecution to focus on forgery charges only

KATHMANDU, Aug 28: The District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO), Kathmandu, has filed a case against 290 people including four former ministers in connection with the Lalita Niwas land-grab scam. It has also claimed compensation of over Rs 18 billion from the defendants.

In the ongoing Lalita Niwas case, the Kathmandu District Government Attorney’s Office has taken the decision to pursue legal action solely on the grounds of forgery. The complex web of organized crime charges will not be pursued in this case.

Previously, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had conducted a comprehensive investigation, examining both government documents and the potential involvement of organized crime. After a thorough review of the investigative report submitted by the CIB, the government attorney’s office has opted to proceed exclusively with charges related to forgery only. The necessary legal proceedings are set to be initiated in the court in the near future.

According to the CIB report along with its corresponding recommendations, individuals including Ram Kumar Subedi, his wife Madhavi Subedi, Shobhakant Dhakal, former Election Commission Commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah, the erstwhile Ward Secretary of Kathmandu Ward-5 Shivaji Bhattarai, and the former Director General of the Land Reforms and Law Department Rudra Kumar Shrestha have been identified as potential defendants.

Furthermore, the report has recommended retaining certain individuals, such as the former Minister for Physical Planning and Construction Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, former state minister Sanjay Shah, former land reforms ministers Chandra Dev Joshi and Dambar Shrestha, and others, former chief commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority Deep Basnyat, secretaries Chabi Raj Panta, Dinesh Hari Adhikari, Yubaraj Bhusal, Narayan Gopal Malego and Rabindra Man Joshi as potential defendants in the case.

A case will also be prosecuted against Krishna Bahadur Raut, secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The District Government Attorney Office (DGAO) has decided to include Raut as a defendant as well, despite CIB had earlier stated not to make Raut as a defendant.

According to the DGAO, Raut has been made a defendant and sent to the Kathmandu District Court for registration. The DGAO has filed charges in Kathmandu District Court, against 290 people including Raut as defendants.

The CIB had recommended that the government prosecute 238 individuals including four former ministers and six former secretaries as defendants in the Lalita Niwas land-grab scam after submitting the probe report to the District Attorney’s Office.