Kathmandu: The Special Court is all set to begin the final hearing on Lalita Niwas corruption case from February 13. The case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is sub-judice at the court for the past two years.
CIAA on February 5 had filed a case against 110 people including former Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar in the controversial land scam while 65 persons and organizations were named defendants to regain the land. They have been accused of transferring the public land into individual ownership.
Spokesperson of the Special Court Deependra Adhikari said that the final hearing was delayed as issuing summons took longer due to a large number of defendants. He added that the court will conduct a continuous hearing from February 13.
A total of 138 accused have appeared before the court so far. Only one accused was sent to judicial custody while others were released on bail and general date. Former DPM Gachhadar had appeared before the court on July 14 and secured his release on a bail bond of Rs one million.
Meanwhile, the filing of a document forgery case in the scam has been delayed after the government attorney office returned a probe report citing it to be incomplete.
Chief of district government attorney office Ganga Prasad Poudel said that the report was returned asking for a further investigation stating that some claims can’t be established if a case is filed based on the report.
CIB had recently submitted the report and all necessary files after completing a two-year-long investigation into the much-talked-about case. A team led by DSP at CIB had conducted an investigation into the scam.
It was revealed through the investigation that the government land was converted to individual ownership in four phases. According to a CIB investigation officer, it was found that the land was transferred in 2049 BS, 2062 BS, 2067 BS, and 2069 BS in the names of individuals and guthi (social trust).
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