KATHMANDU: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament has started an investigation into alleged irregularities in the purchase of a Nepali Embassy building worth Rs 770 million in Washington DC, USA.

The then KP Oli-led government had procured the building in April, 2018, by suspending the ongoing tender called in December, 2016, and against the Public Procurement Act and regulations. UML leader Pradip Gyawali was the foreign minister and Arjun Karki was the ambassador to the United States then.

After finding irregularities in the preliminary study, PAC wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on January 7 to make available all the documents related to the purchase of the building within a week.

However, MOFA is yet to provide the documents even as two weeks have passed. PAC is suspicious of the purchase of the building that was done hastily by suspending the tender process started earlier.

PAC Secretary Dr. Rojnath Pandey says that the committee is seriously concerned over the hasty purchase of the building without any competition and without inviting proposals and by suspending the tender process in the middle.

The PAC has raised 8 serious questions regarding the purchase of the building in the letter sent to MoFA.

Secretary Pandey said that the Public Procurement Procedure of the Overseas Mission, 2073 BS, did not provide for the formation of ‘a committee to search for the building’ and furthermore, houses were proposed in places other than the place where they needed to be purchased.