Investigation Committee Says Assets Disclosed Are Not All in Sudhan’s Name, Gold Is Inherited

English text: The investigation committee formed to probe former Home Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Sudhan Gurung has stated that his assets are not unusual and their sources are disclosed. The committee submitted its report to Prime Minister Balen Shah on Jestha 22 and said Gurung had no major personal wrongdoing. According to committee sources cited in the report, the land listed in Gurung’s asset declaration was not all in his own name. The committee found that, apart from land in Dhankuta, other land was registered in the names of his father and grandfather.

The report says Gurung has 19 ropani and 15 anna of land in Sangurigadhi Rural Municipality-6 of Dhankuta, which he had purchased. However, the committee described the practice of showing a lower value than the actual purchase price in land registration as a systemic problem. The committee also studied the 89 tolas of gold and six kilograms of silver mentioned in Gurung’s asset declaration and concluded that the gold appeared to be inherited rather than personally purchased by him. It also found that loans were taken during share purchases and company transactions, and said the publicly discussed share-related dispute was not as claimed outside. The committee has recommended reforms, including maintaining state records of gold ownership, improving money-transfer identification systems, and stopping the practice of undervaluing land during registration.