Former Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba Sued in Passport Printing Case

Kathmandu. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed a case in the Special Court against former Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba in the passport printing case. The commission filed the charge sheet after completing its investigation on Monday. According to sources in the Special Court, the commission has named former Foreign Minister Deuba and 18 others as defendants.

Director General of the Department of Passports, Tirtharaj Aryal, who is in the commission's judicial custody, Information Technology Director of the Department, Sunil Kumar KC, and the department's then Accounts Officer, Tulsiprasad Acharya, along with the Nepali representative of German company Mulhbaur, Munindra Raj Malla, and seven others have been presented to the court with the charge sheet.

The commission's investigation has concluded that approximately 8 billion was embezzled in the passport case. The Department of Passports had called for a global tender in December 2081 for the supply of 6.4 million new electronic passports for five years and the management of its system. For the evaluation of the bid, then Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba had formed a bid evaluation committee on February 9, 2081, under the leadership of the department's Director General Tirtharaj Aryal. On the same date, a sub-committee was formed under the leadership of the department's Information Technology Director Sunil KC, comprising technical staff. According to officials involved in the investigation, both committees approved the contract in the name of the company specified by Arzu.

The printing contract was awarded to German companies Veridos and Mulhbaur. Mulhbaur received a package of 1.55 billion and Veridos received a contract of 6.55 billion. The Nepal representatives for Veridos are Siddharth Thapa and for Mulhbaur are Munindra Raj Malla.

Work on passport printing and system management has not started as per the contract agreement. However, the Prime Minister's Office and Council of Ministers had pressured the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority to investigate, claiming that the procurement rules were violated in the bidding process and contract. At that time, the French company Idemia had been excluded from the bidding process.