Committee to probe wide-body scam

Kathmandu, Jan 3 . The government has formed a three-member high-level judicial committee to probe into the alleged irregularities in the procurement of the wide-body aircraft for the Nepal Airlines Corporation.

The committee chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Govinda Prasad Parajuli includes former deputy Attorney General Narendra Prasad Pathak and Chartered Accountant Madan Sharma. The committee has been formed in wake of the releasing of a report by a parliamentary sub-committee.

The committee has been formed by the Council of Ministers with a jurisdiction to examine the procurement of the two Airbus aircrafts and with a 45-day term to report back to the government, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Banskota said.

It may be noted that the Sub-committee under the Public Accounts Committee had concluded that embezzlement took place in the matter and recommended action against Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari, former ministers Jeevan Bahadur Shahi and Jitendra Dev, Secretary Krishna Prasad Devkota and former Secretaries Prem Rai and Shanker Prasad Adhikari, as well as NAC Managing Director Sugat Ratna Kansakar.

The Sub-committee has found that Rs. 4.35 billion was embezzled in procuring the wide-body aircrafts for the state-owned Corporation.