15 persons, including the then three secretaries of the Ministry of Water Supply, Sanjay Sharma, Bhimprasad Upadhyay and Gajendra Kumar Thakur, were made defendants. However, not a single departmental minister pointed the needle of investigation.
What you should know
A corruption case was filed in the special court on February 6, 2080 with a demand of 85 crore bigo due to corruption in the Melamchi water supply project. 15 persons including the then three Secretaries of the Ministry of Water Supply Sanjay Sharma, Bhimprasad Upadhyay and Gajendra Kumar Thakur were made defendants.
He was the then board chairman of the Melamchi Water Supply Development Committee. However, not a single departmental minister has been investigated.
The Italian company 'Co-operative Muratori e Cementisti-CMC di Ravinna' was chosen as the construction contractor for Melamchi water supply and the construction work started on June 31, 2070. A contract worth 7 billion 72 crores (excluding VAT) was signed to complete the rest of the work within 1095 days.
The company started working on June 31, 2075 and left the work on November 29, 2075. All party leaders headed the Water Ministry during this period. It was found that the highest payment was made when there was a minister from Maoist without Magar. The then Secretary Thakur had accused Minister Magar of asking for bribe by holding a press conference.
The Authority, which claimed that there was corruption during the awarding of the contract, did not even question Vijay Kumar Gachchdar, Vimalendra Nidhi, Ramesh Akhtar, Mahindra Rai Yadav, Bina Magar and Umakant Chaudhary who became ministers after June 2070. During the time of Magar, who became the water minister after 2074, the then secretary Thakur had publicly said that the minister was involved in corruption and pressured him to pay illegally. The authority did not even take a statement from them.
Special delivered a verdict in the case on 24 August 2081, convicting four people. 10 people were acquitted. The then secretary Thakur, the then executive director Ramchandra Devkota and Suryaraj Kandel and the team leader Shivkumar Sharma of consultant Iptisa were found guilty.
