Out of the 20 MPs from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party who became MPs in the 2051 mid-term elections, 16 were made ministers. However, as dissatisfaction grew, RPP MPs launched a signature campaign to call a special general convention to bring a no-confidence motion against the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. At that time, Deuba was struggling to save the post of Prime Minister.

Deuba, who became Prime Minister in Bhadra 2052 with the support of the RPP, began to get involved in scandals in the 15 months he was in power. RPP ministers and MPs were involved in corruption and rape scandals. But Deuba was not in a position to take action against them to maintain power.

In the same background, Padmasundar Lawati, who became the Minister of Agriculture representing the RPP, was accused of irregularities in the purchase of chemical fertilizers. In this case, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had filed a case against Agriculture Minister and Vice President of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Lawati in the Patan Appellate Court on November 20, 2006.

A case was filed against Minister Lawati and the officials of the Agricultural Materials Corporation Board of Directors for corruption of Rs. 68.6 million 820. Eight complaints were filed with the Commission against the directors, including the Minister of Agriculture. During the investigation into the complaints, a case was filed claiming that the collusion of Minister Lawati and the directors caused financial loss to the state.

In that incident, 12 people, including Minister Lawati, Agriculture Secretary and Corporation Chairman Dan Bahadur Shahi, and Corporation General Manager Mingma Tshering Sherpa, were accused of irregularities in three contracts. The Commission had also filed a case against five fertilizer traders.

In that case, a case was filed against Nar Bahadur Hirachan, a central member of the RPP who was appointed as an agricultural expert on the board of directors of the corporation, Rambadan Pradhan, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Bhupalman Shakya, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Bharat Bahadur Karki, General Manager of the Agricultural Development Bank, Bimalnath Rimal, a special category officer of the Rastra Bank, Jagannath Dulal, Chief of the Fertilizer Procurement Division of the corporation, and Amritman Tamrakar, Deputy General Manager. Similarly, a case was filed against fertilizer traders Senate Shrestha, Nikhilesh Mitra and Yuray Chaudhary of Peerless Company, Govinda Prasad Srivastava and Sitaram Nepal of Semiconductor Material Inc., and Senate, a local agent of G Premji Trading Pvt. Ltd. The CIAA had informed Prime Minister Deuba about the case. The officials involved in the case were suspended until the final decision of the case was made. According to the Prevention of Corruption Act, if the charges are proven, there is a provision for imprisonment of 2 to 6 years or a fine or both. The Authority had demanded an additional five years of imprisonment against Minister Lawati.

How did corruption occur?

According to the report prepared by the Commission's Commissioner Ram Prasad Shrestha, Minister Lawati had awarded a contract to Peerless Developers Company for the purchase of 9,000 metric tons of DAP fertilizer without opening the tender for the purchase of fertilizer. Peerless had won the contract at Rs 320 per metric ton. But for the same contract, Emirates Trading Company had registered a contract proposal to purchase fertilizer at $316.5 per ton. But Emirates was not allowed to purchase fertilizer on the order of the Minister. The Authority had found that $31,500 was a corruption in it. There is no provision in the Finance Act for the Minister to directly award a contract for procurement.

Lawati, on the other hand, had given his approval as a minister to immediately avert the fertilizer crisis. But the authority said that if a crisis situation arises, it should be approved by the Council of Ministers. Even though the minister can only set a limit after the board of directors decides, the limit was set in advance. Although such a limit cannot be set in the account of a departmental minister, Lawati did not follow it. According to the institute's working procedures, if goods worth more than 5 lakhs have to be purchased, a tender must be called. But the authority said that Minister Lawati violated the financial rules because the company did not come out of the tender call and the purchase was worth more than crores.

$10 more per metric ton

While giving the responsibility of purchasing fertilizer, it was seen that the American fertilizer trading company Semiconductor Materials Inc., which had the largest amount, was given additional facilities. The authority had found that the government had suffered a loss of 937,500 US dollars due to the responsibility given to the company to purchase 50,000 tons of fertilizer. The company was allowed to purchase fertilizer at 325 US dollars per ton. But after some time, it was increased by 10 US dollars per ton to 335. The local agent of the company, Sitaram, had stated that there was no justification for adding 10 dollars. He had said, ‘We only know that fertilizer will be purchased at 335. We do not know how and from where the amount was added.’ Although the company is said to have opened a tender for the purchase of fertilizer in 2053 BS, the fertilizer had not been imported by Mangsir of the same year.

Deposit returned without bringing any fertilizer!

The contract to import 10,000 tons of fertilizer was given to the Bangkok-based fertilizer trading company, G. Premji Trading Company. The company had imported only 6,300 tons of fertilizer. But the company's deposit of 229,460 US dollars was returned without importing the goods. The amount was returned on the instructions of Minister Lawati. During their statements to the Authority, the minister and directors did not give a clear answer about the return of the amount. The Authority filed a case against its directors and the minister for allegedly committing irregularities by returning the amount that could not be returned.

After being criticized by the party and the public, Agriculture Minister Lawati resigned on November 21, 2006. In his resignation, he said that he resigned on moral grounds because a so-called corruption case had been filed against him. He also said that some people from within the party were against him when the game of power change was going on in the RPP. At that time, the RPP MPs were divided into two groups, those who signed against Prime Minister Deuba and those who did not. The RPP had made a plan to equalize power with the UML by making Chand the Prime Minister within a few days. In the same context, Lawati had said that his involvement in corruption was a conspiracy within the party.

Not only the minister, but Lawati's MP post was also suspended. That is why a debate had also started on what would happen to his MP post. Legal experts had said that since MP is a public post, he should be suspended. Some RPP leaders had demanded that Lawati resign from the post of vice-president, saying that the corruption case had affected the image of the party.

Agriculture Secretary and Institute Chairman Shahi had said goodbye to the ministry employees after the corruption case was filed. He said goodbye in the presence of all the high-level employees in the ministry. The Kantipur Daily published a news report prepared by journalist Hari Bahadur Thapa on 21 Mangsir 2053 under the title 'Chemical fertilizer corruption case: Case filed in court against Minister Lawati and 12 officials'. Also, the news of Minister Lawati's resignation was published on 22 Mangsir 2052 under the title 'Lawati resigns from the post of minister, even his status as an MP is uncertain'.