Kathmandu, June 25: The Special Court has granted bail of Rs 3.5 million to former Prime Minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal in connection with the Patanjali land scam.

Nepal appeared before the court on Wednesday as hearings proceeded on the high-profile corruption case. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the case on June 5 against Nepal and 93 other individuals, accusing them of illegally transferring land in Kavrepalanchok. The land, which was originally exempted from the land ceiling law, was allegedly registered under Patanjali Yogpeeth and Ayurvedic Company Nepal during his premiership in 2009.

The anti-graft body has demanded a fine and sentence equivalent to Rs 185.85 million in losses incurred through the transaction.

Following the corruption charges, Nepal was suspended from his role as a Member of Parliament. In response to the ongoing controversy, the CPN (Unified Socialist) has scheduled a meeting of its Secretariat for June 27 to deliberate on the party’s position regarding the case.

People News Monitoring Service