Suspended Chief Secretary Aryal released on bail of Rs 50,000 :: Setopati :: Setopati

The special court has released Baikuntha Aryal, who was suspended from the post of chief secretary following the registration of a corruption case by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), on bail of Rs 50,000.

According to special court joint spokesperson Yagya Raj Regmi, the bench comprising special court chairman Justice Tek Narayan Kunwar and justices Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa on Sunday released Aryal, who appeared before the court, on bail of Rs 50,000.

The constitutional anti-corruption agency had accused Aryal and 11 others of committing irregularities in the purchase of excise stickers and demanded Rs 386.72 million from the accused.

The other accused in the case are Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Ritesh Kumar Shakya, Deputy Director General, Department of Customs, Tanka Prasad Pandey, then Managing Director, Security Printing Centre, Bikal Paudel, then Director, Department of Revenue, Ganesh Bikram Shahi, then Director, National Information Technology Centre, Safal Shrestha, Rabindra Paudel, Accountant Bishnu Prasad Gautam, Department Head, Security Printing Centre, Hari Ballabh Paudel, Procurement Consultant Shakti Prasad Shrestha, Print Cell Private Limited and its Director Keshav Sharma.

With the registration of the case, Chief Secretary Aryal was automatically suspended from his post under Section 33 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002.

“In case any officer is detained under clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 28, sub-section (3) of section 30 and section 31, he shall ipso facto be suspended for the period of detention and if a case is initiated against him/her under section 36, he/she shall ipso facto be suspended until the proceedings in the case are completed,” says section 33 of the Act.

Section 17 of the Commission for Investigation into Abuse of Office Act 1991 also contains provisions for the automatic suspension of an official.

“If any person holding any public office is arrested by the Commission under section 16 or sub-section (4) of section 19, such person shall be deemed to be ipso facto suspended from his office for the period of such arrest and if any case is pending against him in the court under section 18, he shall be deemed to be suspended until the case is disposed of,” says section 17 of the Act. “The person so suspended shall be deemed to be unfit for any post in any government office or public establishment or any other post which may be financially liable to impose a burden on the loan or grant received from the Government of Nepal.”

Aryal was appointed as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Nepal as per a Cabinet decision on June 15 last year.