CIAA Arrests Two Passport Department Officials in Printing Contract Case

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has taken action in the passport printing contract case, which had remained controversial for a long time. Passport Department Director General Tirtha Raj Aryal and Information Technology Director Sunil KC were arrested on Monday in connection with the case. According to claims from the Prime Minister’s Office, the arrests came after strong pressure and intervention from Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s secretariat, which had been providing information and evidence to the anti-graft body regarding alleged irregularities in the contract.

The case is linked to a passport printing contract worth more than Rs 8 billion. According to the report, the contract for printing 6.4 million passports was awarded during the government led by then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to German companies Mühlbauer ID Services and Veridos. The Passport Department had reportedly demanded blade servers in the international tender, but the contract was allegedly awarded even though the companies proposed rack servers. The contract amount was stated to be Rs 8.06 billion. It has also been claimed that another company, Idemia, had filed a complaint saying its proposal was Rs 280 million cheaper, but the matter did not move forward due to alleged political pressure.