Few could have foreseen Madhu Kumar Marasini's swift return to the finance ministry. Marasini's appointment as the new Finance Secretary on April 22 came just days after his acquittal by the Special Court in a corruption case. Cleared of charges in the National Payment Gateway procurement corruption case, Marasini has been entrusted with the role of Finance Secretary, replacing the incumbent secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar who has now been transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (OPMCM). Sources say Marasini was personally picked by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal for the finance secretary role. Given Marasini's significant involvement in the finance ministry, his reinstatement within the ministry was expedited, particularly in preparation for the upcoming fiscal year's budget. Amid controversy surrounding the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma for alleged breaches of budgetary discipline in July 2022, Marasini, who was serving as Finance Secretary at the time, had taken extended leave. However, he returned to office after Sharma resigned. Sharma had been accused of involving two unauthorised individuals in adjusting tax rates just a day before presenting the budget for fiscal year 2022/23 in Parliament. Despite these allegations, Sharma was reinstated as Finance Minister after a parliamentary probe cleared him of wrongdoing. Marasini subsequently took another leave. The government then transferred him to the OPMCM before appointing him as Commerce Secretary. Now, Marasini has been allowed to oversee the preparations for the next fiscal year's budget. Whether he will be able to uphold fiscal discipline in preparing the new budget by resisting pressure from political leaders for a distributive and populist budget, remains to be seen.