Wide-body scandal: Ex-Minister Shahi acquitted, 4 including ex-GM jailed (full text)
The verdict was issued by the bench of Special Court Chair Tek Narayan Kunwar, along with members Tejanarayan Singh Rai and Ritesh Thapa.
KATHMANDU: Former Tourism Minister Jeevan Bahadur Shahi has been acquitted in the corruption case involving the purchase of a wide-body aircraft by Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).
The verdict was issued by the bench of Special Court Chair Tek Narayan Kunwar, along with members Tejanarayan Singh Rai and Ritesh Thapa.
In this case, which involved a financial loss of Rs 1.47 billion, former Minister Shahi was cleared of charges.
Shahi is currently the leader of the Congress parliamentary party in the Karnali Province Assembly and has previously served as the Chief Minister of Karnali.
The allegations against Minister Shahi included recommending foreign exchange transactions for payment of commitment fees without a bank guarantee, providing legitimacy to an illegal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and creating a situation where subsequent officials and agencies would lose the commitment fees and not receive the aircraft.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had accused him of causing double risks through these decisions.
However, the court’s ruling stated that although the NAC Act of 2019 assigns responsibilities to the Nepal government, it does not appear that any specific responsibility was given to the minister in this case.
The court also mentioned that no specific responsibilities were outlined for the minister in the corporation’s procurement process.
