January 1: A parliamentary sub-committee on Wednesday recommended taking action against Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari after finding him guilty in the procurement of wide-body aircraft for the state-run Nepal Airlines Corporation. The sub-committee under the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament has held him accountable for irregularities in the procurement process for providing misleading information to the sub-committee and for shying away from his duties.

The parliamentary panel has also accused former ministers Jitendra Narayan Dev and Jeevan Bahadur Shahi of their involvement in the scam.

The sub-committee headed by lawmaker Rajan KC has recommended suspending Director General of Nepal Airlines Corporation Sugat Ratna Kansakar, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Krishna Prasad Devkota and former secretary at the ministry Prem Kumar Rai, who is currently the home secretary.

The Public Accounts Committee had formed the sub-committee to investigate into irregularities during the procurement of the wide-body aircraft. The panel has concluded that the authorities were involved in misappropriating Rs 4.37 billion while procuring the aircraft. On Wednesday (January 2), coordinator of the sub-committee KC handed over a 38-page report of investigation to the chairman of PAC Bharat Kumar Shah.