Godawari Mayor among 14 people charged by CIAA in graft case

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Monday filed a graft case at the Special Court against 14 people, including Gajendra Maharjan, the mayor of Godawari Municipality in Lalitpur district. The case has been filed, charging them with causing a revenue loss of Rs1.04 billion to the state coffers while approving tenders for the extraction of sand and stones from the fiscal year 2018-19 to 2022-23.

The CIAA has named Maharjan, the then administrative officer, along with other people’s representatives and contractors, as defendants in the case. According to the court’s Information Officer, Yagya Raj Regmi, the CIAA had filed the case on the charge of causing revenue loss by awarding contracts at rates lower than those fixed by the government. Maharjan, who was elected mayor from the Nepali Congress, is serving his second term as the municipal head.