April 4: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday lodged a charge sheet against 32 persons, including former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, on the charge of corruption on procurement of wide-body aircraft for the national flag carrier- Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).    
Other officials facing the charge include the then General Manager of NAC Sugat Ratna Kansakar, the government secretary and Chairman of NAC Board of Directors Shankar Prasad Adhikari, then Director General of the Department of Customs and then NAC Board of Director Shishir Kumar Dhungana, Civil Aviation Ministry's Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane and others.    
The CIAA has sought Rs 1.471 million in recovery for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation in the procurement of the wide-body aircraft.    
Similarly, others implicated the case are Board of Directors Teknath Acharya, Jiban Prakash Sitaula, Achyut Raj Pahadi, Nima Nuru Sherpa and Muktiram Pandey, according to the CIAA.    
The anti-graft body has also sued the aircraft supplier company's representatives, citizens from Germany, Romania and Moldova.    
AAR International INC's chief and four others have also been named as the defendants claiming Rs 1.471 billion in compensation, CIAA Spokesperson Narahari Ghimire said. -- RSS