Committee Chairman Mohan Singh Rathour said though the letter sent to the ministry has used mild language, its thrust is Khadka should be suspended.
KATHMANDU, Sep 15: The parliament's Good Governance Committee has written to the Ministry of Supplies to 'suspend' Executive Director of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Gopal Khadka, who has been accused of embezzling around Rs 1.5 billion while buying plots of land to set up fuel storage facilities in various districts.
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The Good Governance Committee had decided to direct the concerned ministry not to assign any responsibility to Khadka until the investigations on the alleged embezzlement are concluded.
"The committee directs the Ministry of Supplies not to assign any responsibility to Khadka, who was directly involved in land purchase for the fuel storage centers for NOC, until the investigations on him concludes," reads the letter sent to the ministry on Thursday.
Committee Chairman Mohan Singh Rathour said though the letter sent to the ministry has used mild language, its thrust is Khadka should be suspended.
"Not assigning someone any responsibility is tantamount to suspending him. The conclusion of the meeting was that Khadka should be suspended, though the language in the letter could have been mild," Rathour told Republica.
He further informed that Secretary at the Ministry of Supplies Krishna Prasad Baskota has assured the committee that the ministry will take action against Khadka after receiving the committee's directive.
Most of the committee members had demanded that the committee should direct the government to suspend Khadka and other officials involved in the scam. "Since parliamentary investigations have found that there has been a scam, we demanded that the committee instruct the government to take action against all those involved including Khadka," said committee member Harkabol Rai.
Another committee member Aman Lal Modi expressed discontent at the committee's decision not to mention the names of others involved in the scam.
According to lawmakers Khadka had also appeared in the committee's meeting on Sunday without being invited. "The committee chairman asked Khadka to leave because the lawmakers demanded that he should do so because they were discussing his involvement in the scam," said a lawmaker.
Parliamentary committee on Industry, Commerce and Consumer Rights Protection has pointed out involvement of political leadership in the ministry, NOC board members, Khadka and local-level officials in the embezzlement after over a month-long probe into the case.
The parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Industry, Commerce and Consumer Rights Protection Committee have concluded that there have been huge irregularities while buying land plots in Chitwan, Bhairahawa, Jhapa and Sarlahi districts and they have recommended necessary action over the matter. Also, the Ministry of Supplies in its preliminary investigation has found some irregularities and recommended the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to take action in this connection. Supplies Minister Shiva Kumar Mandal said the next cabinet meeting will take a decision in this connection.
