KATHMANDU: A new corruption case has been filed against suspended mayor of Bagmati Municipality in Sarlahi, Bharat Kumar Thapa, over alleged illegal construction and misappropriation of public funds. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the case at the Special Court on Sunday.
Former Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Madhesh Province, Bijay Kumar, has also been named as a key defendant. The case revolves around the illegal excavation of forest products and unauthorized construction of fishponds in Wards 4 and 12 of the municipality.
According to the CIAA, the municipality extracted sand, gravel, stones, and soil from the protected Murtiya forest under the Sagarnath Forest Development Project without proper authorization. The excavated pits were later converted into fishponds using millions in grants from the federal and provincial governments, without conducting any environmental assessment or following legal procedures.
The Sagarnath project had issued repeated warnings against the construction, but the municipality continued the work in violation of forest conservation laws, the CIAA said. Despite repeated grants from the Madhesh provincial government, the funds were allegedly misused, with fishponds constructed where no fish farming was actually practiced.
One major allegation is that then-Minister Vijay Kumar signed an MoU himself on Asar 6, 2078, with the administrative officer of the local level to release Rs 300 million in grants—raising serious questions about procedure and intent.
The CIAA estimates that from fiscal year 2075/76 to 2079/80, over Rs 567.1 million was misused. The charge sheet has been filed under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2059 and its amended version of 2081.
The anti-graft body has demanded full recovery of misused funds and the confiscation of all illegal structures. Thapa and former deputy mayor Leela Kumari Muktan are each accused of embezzling Rs 567.1 million, while former minister Bijay Kumar faces a claim of Rs 299.9 million.
Other officials named in the case include former chief administrative officer Bimal Kumar Pokharel and former legal officer of the Madhesh Province Ministry of Finance Gokul Bhujel.
This is the second case against Thapa. On Jestha 29, 2081, the CIAA had already filed a corruption case against him and five others for the unauthorized construction of a fishpond—known locally as Bharat Taal—using illegally extracted materials, involving a separate misuse of over Rs 302.9 million.
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