A complaint was filed alleging misuse of the government budget by allocating 1.5 million rupees for the purpose of making a film.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
A corruption case has been filed against Prakash Bahadur Saud, the chairman of Dhakari Rural Municipality in Achham, and four others on charges of misappropriating government funds in the production of a film.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday filed a case in a special court against Chairman Saud, then Acting Chief Administrative Officer Laxman Sah and Accountant Bimal Saud, and Ramji Lamsal, alias Ram Bahadur Lamsal, the chairman of RJ 24 News and Nav Indreni Foundation Kathmandu.
The CIAA has imposed a fine of Rs 1,277,225 against the chairman, Chief Administrative Officer and Accountant of the municipality and demanded recovery of the embezzled amount. The CIAA has also imposed a similar fine and demanded recovery of the embezzled amount against the company's operator Lamsal.
A complaint was filed with the Authority alleging that the Dhakari chairman, vice-chairman, ward chairman and working committee members had misused the government budget by allocating 1.5 million rupees for the film 'Andhapath'. Lamsal is the producer of the film.
The Authority has found that Chairman Saud, Acting Chief Administrative Officer Sah and Accountant Bimal Saud and Lamsal acted in collusion and with malicious intent. It was found that an agreement was made on 18 Bhadra 2081 to produce the film Andhapath by misusing the municipality's budget in violation of the public procurement law.
‘The agreement for the production of the film was made without preparing the procurement process including identification of the procurement requirement, preparation of cost estimates, etc. in accordance with the prevailing law, and in order to cover up the malicious act against the said law, the executive meeting headed by the civil servant defendants on 2081 Kartik 6 approved/had the agreement approved and the contract worth 1.5 million 5 thousand rupees was made directly without competition,’ the charge sheet of the Authority states. The Authority has also listed the issue of making an agreement with a company and paying the amount to the Nav Indreni Foundation as a corruption offense.
The Authority says that there is no basis to confirm the truth when looking at the bills submitted for the production of the film as a thatched house and other miscellaneous expenses. The Authority has stated that it has acted illegally and as a key figure in covering up the embezzlement, misuse and destruction of public and government property on the basis of the same false and fake bills. The Authority's indictment states that the amount established in the plan was embezzled by amending the program and transferring funds from the winter session.
*Corrected.
