KATHMANDU: A special parliamentary committee has been formed to investigate the alleged involvement of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma in raising the tax rate by admitting an unauthorized person to the ministry while preparing the budget for 2079/080.

Sharma has also been alleged of “deleting” the CCTV footage of the Ministry of Finance.

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota proposed the names of 11 members of the parliamentary inquiry committee received from the political parties.

Sharma has been alleged of manipulating the tax rate by allowing unauthorized persons inside the Ministry of Finance a day before the unveiling of the fiscal budget.

The probe committee includes four lawmakers — Khagaraj Adhikari, Pradip Gyawali, Bhanubhakta Dhakal and Bimala BK — as members of the main opposition CPN-UML.

Likewise, the committee will have Pushpa Bhusal and Sitaram Mahato from the Nepali Congress, Dev Prasad Gurung and Shakti Bahadur Basnet from the Maoist Center.

Similarly, Sarala Kumari Yadav of Unified Socialist, Surendra Yadav of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), and Laxman Lal Karna of Loktantrik Samajbadi Party are also included in the committee.

Speaker Sapkota said that the investigation committee was formed to find out the truth about the news that the Finance Minister has manipulated the tax rate by allowing unauthorized persons in the ministry.

Speaking in Parliament today, Finance Minister Sharma claimed that the budget was prepared on the basis of established norms and methods.