Director General Aryal among five granted bail in passport procurement process case
KATHMANDU:- The Special Court has ordered five defendants—including Tirtha Raj Aryal, the then Director General of the Department—to post bail in connection with a corruption case involving the passport procurement process. A bench comprising Special Court members Narayan Prasad Paudel, Hemant Rawal, and Umesh Koirala issued this order on Sunday.
The court has ordered the other two defendants in the case to be tried on a regular date.
Considering the official status and involvement of the defendants, the court has demanded Rs. 5 lakh for Tirtharaj Aryal (then Director General), Rs. 5 lakh for Manindra Raj Malla (facilitator), Rs. 4 lakh for Sunil Kumar K.C. (then Director), Rs. 3 lakh for Somesh Thapa (then Branch Officer), and Rs. 3 lakh for Bipin Prasai (then Computer Engineer).
The court has ordered that if they pay the prescribed bail amount, they will be released on the date and if they do not pay, they will be sent to prison for detention as per the rules.
Similarly, in the case of defendants Tulsi Prasad Acharya and Rajaram Dahal, it has been decided to hear the case on a regular date without bail, considering their tenure and role.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against the Passport Department, claiming that it had acted contrary to the Public Procurement Act and caused damage to the government in the contract signed for the purchase of electronic passports.
The CIAA has claimed a loss of Rs 184.4 million 8.871 against Tirtharaj Aryal and his employees, while it had claimed a loss of Rs 1.9 billion 6.9 million 57.32 against the facilitator Manindra Raj Malla.
The defendants, during their statements, denied the charges, claiming that they acted in accordance with the prevailing law and instead purchased passports at a low price to benefit the state. However, the court decided to grant them bail, saying that they could not be found innocent based on the evidence immediately available.
