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Kathmandu, February 6: Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s Director General Pradeep Adhikari, who was arrested on charges of corruption in the construction of the Nalinchok Heliport, will have to remain in judicial custody.

On Friday, the Supreme Court also upheld the order of the Special Court to keep him in detention for trial. A joint bench of Supreme Court justices Hariprasad Phuyal and Shantisinh Thapa endorsed the Special Court’s decision.

Earlier, on Mangsir 21, a joint bench of Special Court judges Hemant Rawal, Dilliratna Shrestha, and Bidur Koirala had ordered that Adhikari be kept in custody. Challenging that order, Adhikari had approached the Supreme Court on Poush 21.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case alleging corruption amounting to Rs 135,746,213.77 in the construction of the Nalinchok Heliport. According to the CIAA, corruption occurred in the heliport construction without submitting the Detailed Study Report as stipulated in the contract and without completing other required procedures.

The CIAA has named seven defendants, including Director General Adhikari; then Director Murari Bhandari; then Deputy Manager and current Manager Bikram Thapa; then Senior Officer and current Deputy Manager Samriddhi Shrestha; consultant Gurudatta Adhikari; Engineer Consulting Pvt. Ltd.; and the company’s then Managing Director Vijay Thapa.