KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 19 individuals, including former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Sangita Singh Bhandari, for allegedly purchasing a substandard CT scan machine at Rapti Health Sciences Institute.
On Thursday, the CIAA filed the case at the Special Court, seeking a total compensation of Rs 73.18 million from Dr. Bhandari.
Along with Dr. Bhandari, the case names several former officials of the institute, including Acting Registrar Kailash Prasad Dev, Director Dr. Sagar Panthi, Head of Radiology Dr. Bom B.C., Biomedical Engineers Sharad Bhandari and Ashutosh Bhandari, Consultant Biomedical Engineer Amit Kumar Chaudhary, and Lecturer Dr. Shrisia Pokhrel.
Other accused include officials Jhankar Lamichhane, Leelakumari Devkota, and Megh Bahadur Adhikari; IT Officer Hiralal Bhandari; Accounts Officer Rajiv Basnet; Pharmacy Supervisor Krishna Prasad Joshi; staff nurse Bindu Paudel; physiotherapist Pooja Thakur; computer assistant Satish Bahadur Shah; and representatives of Himalaya Meditech Pvt. Ltd., Amar Shrestha and Sanju Rajkarnikar.
The case demands compensation of Rs 73.18 million, either individually or jointly, from those accused, in addition to legal action under the law.
According to the CIAA, the accused allegedly failed to identify the procurement need, prepare a purchase plan, and follow required procurement procedures, yet proceeded with the purchase, resulting in financial irregularities.
Comment