Better late

Sustained pressure is needed to see the probe into Pokhara airport to its logical end.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the constitutional anti-graft body, on Sunday filed a corruption case against 55 individuals and a Chinese company over irregularities in the construction of Pokhara International Airport. Among those charged are five former ministers, 10 ex-secretaries, other staff, plus one company. The charge sheet, which the anti-graft body filed at the Special Court, accuses officials and the contractor of “revising the approved cost estimate of the airport with malicious intent, inflating the estimate abnormally, and making excessive payments accordingly.” The contract also clearly violated the Public Procurement Act. The inflated cost totals $74.34 million, making it the largest corruption case under a public procurement process reported at the court. The CIAA’s intervention is thus commendable—albeit a little late.