Twelve, including Chief Secretary Aryal, face corruption charges

KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal, alleging irregularities in the printing of excise duty stickers.

The case was filed today at the Special Court, accusing Chief Secretary Aryal of mismanagement during his tenure as Secretary of the Ministry of Communication.

Along with Chief Secretary Aryal following officials are also named as defendants in the case:

Ritesh Kumar Shakya, Joint Secretary at the Finance Ministry

Tanka Prasad Pandey, Under Director General at the Customs Department

Bikal Paudel, then Executive Director at the Security Printing Press

Ganesh Bikram Shahi, Under Secretary at Inland Revenue Department, Lazimpat

Safal Shrestha, then Director at National Information Technology Center

Rabindra Prasad Paudel, Section Officer at Inland Revenue Department, Lazimpat

Bishnu Prasad Gautam, then Officer at the Security Printing Press

Hari Ballav Ghimire, then Officer at the Security Printing Press

Shakti Prasad Shrestha, Purchase Consular at the Security Printing Press

Keshav Sharma, Director of Print Cell Pvt. Ltd

Print Cell Pvt. Ltd

During Aryal’s nine-month tenure as Secretary at the Ministry of Communication, the Security Printing Press and Print Cell Pvt. Ltd entered into an agreement to print 433.2 million stickers for Rs 380 million.

Bikal Paudel served as the Executive Director of the Security Printing Press at the time of the agreement.