KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former Prime Minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chair Madhav Kumar Nepal, seeking a recovery of over Rs 185.85 million.
According to CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Paudel, the case was registered at the Special Court on Thursday under multiple sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002.
The commission has demanded imprisonment, equivalent fines, and recovery of the embezzled amount in accordance with Sections 3, 17, and 24 of the Act.
With the filing of the case, Nepal, who was elected from Rautahat Constituency-3, is automatically suspended from his position as a Member of Parliament. His party, CPN (Unified Socialist), currently holds 10 seats in the House of Representatives.
This is the first time a sitting anti-graft body has filed a corruption case against a former prime minister in Nepal. Notably, it is also the first such case based on a Cabinet decision—marking a shift from past precedent, where former prime ministers received legal immunity under the “policy decision” doctrine in cases like the Baluwatar land scam.
The case stems from a controversial land swap deal involving Indian spiritual leader Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna’s Patanjali group. During Nepal’s tenure as prime minister, the Cabinet on February 1, 2010, had permitted Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal to purchase 815 ropani of land in Kavrepalanchok under an exemption from land ceiling regulations.
Patanjali had committed to establishing an Ayurvedic hospital, research center, yoga ashram, pharmaceutical plant, dairy farm, and medicinal herb cultivation. However, shortly after acquiring the land, Patanjali’s Nepal representative Shaligram Singh requested government permission for land exchange and relocation—triggering scrutiny over possible misuse of state authority in facilitating the deal.
The CIAA has cited these irregularities as grounds for its historic case against Nepal.
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