Court orders release of 5 including DG on bail in passport printing scam

Kathmandu. The Special Court has ordered the release of 5 people on bail in the case of corruption related to passport printing.

A division bench of Justices Narayan Prasad Poudel, Hemanta Rawal and Umesh Koirala issued the order to release five persons, including Director General of the Department of Passport Tirtha Raj Aryal, on bail.

The apex court has sought Rs 500,000 bail from Director General Aryal, Rs 400,000 from Director of Information Technology Sunil Kumar KC, Rs 300,000 from then section officer Somesh Thapa, Rs 300,000 from computer engineer Bipin Prasai and Rs 500,000 from Manidra Raj Malla, Nepal representative of German company Mulbauer ID Services.

The Special Court has ordered the release of former accounts officer Tulasi Prasad Acharya and then undersecretary (law) Rajaram Dahal.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed corruption case against 18 persons including Director General Aryal on June 22. The CIAA has also embezzled Rs 10.13 billion against them.