CIAA files a case against Sunil Paudel and six others again

Kathmandu – The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against seven individuals, including Sunil Paudel, the former Executive Director of the National Information Technology Center.

Previously, the commission had brought charges against these individuals for irregularities and illicit gains in various procurements of information technology. On Friday, the CIAA charged them again, alleging corruption during the procurement of high compute infrastructure in the fiscal year 2076/77. According to CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Poudel, contracts were awarded without preparing a proper master plan.

The commission claims there was collusion in setting specifications, leading to the delivery of substandard materials worth NPR 158.85 million, contrary to the established standards. The charge sheet notes that more than NPR 150 million was embezzled through an exaggerated contract value given to World Distribution Nepal Pvt. Ltd. at a total cost of NPR 306.55 million.

The CIAA has named Sunil Paudel, then Executive Director; Saphal Shrestha, former Director; Ramesh Pokhrel, Assistant Director; Ramsaran Gayak, Computer Engineer; Nimba Bahadur Wali, Accounts Officer; as well as Arun Shrestha, the Chairman and Managing Director of World Distribution Nepal Pvt. Ltd, as defendants in this case.