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The Nepali Army has reportedly approved the participation of a blacklisted Indian firm in the bidding process for one of the packages of the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Expressway, following a thorough review of its technical proposal.

KMC Construction Ltd, an Indian firm, is among the three companies shortlisted for the financial proposal stage after passing the technical proposal evaluation. Consequently, the army will proceed to award the contract based on the financial proposals submitted by these three companies. The other two companies that have qualified for the financial proposal stage are Poly Changda Engineering Co Ltd of China and RVNL-ABL Joint Venture, based on the assessment of their technical proposals.

Currently, the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Fast Track Road Project is in the process of evaluating financial proposals for Package 8-B of the expressway, with an estimated project cost of approximately Rs 19bn. Despite the Chinese firm bidding over Rs 28bn for the package, RVNL-ABL Joint Venture bidding Rs 17bn, and KMC Construction Ltd bidding Rs 14bn, the project must be awarded to the lowest bidder in accordance with the Public Procurement Act and Regulations. Therefore, the blacklisted Indian firm is expected to secure the project.

It’s worth noting that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has initiated the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process for KMC Construction. Reportedly, KMC Construction secured a bid guarantee through Citizens Bank International Ltd of Nepal, as Indian banks declined to provide a bank guarantee due to the firm being blacklisted by Exim Bank.

The Nepali Army’s decision on the fast-track project has faced criticism. Responding to a 2019 query from the Department of Roads about the banking status of the Indian firm, the Indian Embassy recommended canceling the tender awarded to a joint venture between KMC and Tundi Construction of Kathmandu and opting for rebidding. Additionally, India’s National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd placed KMC Construction on the ‘negative list’ in 2021, and the Indian Enforcement Directorate is reportedly investigating the company.

Another Indian bidder, RVNL-ABL JV, brought attention to the project chief regarding the qualification of KMC Construction, labeling it as “highly irregular and a miscarriage of transparency and justice in an international bidding procedure.”

Three people accused of involvement in a land scam, including Arun Kumar Chaudhary, a magnate with links to Nepal’s leading conglomerate, walked free on a court date on Wednesday after the Kathmandu district court ruled that there was no need to keep them in custody for a prolonged period for investigating the scam. 

The scam, the latest in a series of high-profile cases that have rocked a corruption-plagued polity, involves the transfer of ownership of 10 ropanis of land belonging to the government-owned Bansbari leather and shoe factory limited during its privatization in the 1990’s. 

Police set the three—Chaudhary, the then executive chair of the factory Ajit Narayan Singh Thapa and proprietor of CG Chandbagh Residency (P) Ltd Sanjaya Thakur—after a bench of judge Yagya Prasad Acharya ordered their release barely a week after their arrest in response to a case from Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau. The bench reasoned that there was no need to keep the three in custody for 25 days for investigating the case. 

Article 15 of the civil code provisions that the investigating officer can release a suspect from custody on general date or on bail with consent from the government attorney if there is ‘no need to keep the individual in custody’.  

Immediately after the arrest, Chaudhary was admitted to Chirayu Hospital in Maharajgunj after developing ‘health complications’ and then transferred to Grande Hospital in Dhapasi overnight on referral. 

Right after arresting Chaudhary and two others in connection with the scam, rumors were rife that CIB was under constant pressure to conduct a prompt investigation and submit the case file to the government attorney’s office. 

Paradoxically, the court ruling appears to have substantiated these rumors. This does not bode well for the polity at a time when the two other organs of the state (the executive and the legislature), reeling under a series of scams like the Bhutanese refugee scam, Lalita Niwas land-grab and the 60-kg gold smuggling case, have largely been unable to take the cases to their logical conclusion by bringing the guilty to justice.

“Existing legal provisions have no provisions on the release of individuals accused in cases of serious nature. They do not allow the court to release someone involved in cases likely to lead to jail-term of up to three years on bail or on general date,” Advocate Ananta Raj Luitel says. “The laws have not granted the benches the authority to issue judgments in a manner they think fit by ignoring factors like precedents, legal provisions and the seriousness of the offense.”

“The single bench’s ruling in the case involving Arun Chaudhary and two others has given an impression that the rich and the powerful enjoy preferential treatment in this country with regard to justice dispensation,” he adds, “This kind of negative impression won’t serve the judiciary. It’s time for the judiciary to bear in mind that rulings like these will cause the public to lose faith in a vital organ of the state.”

In the wake of escalating climate change impacts and extreme weather events, particularly in the developing countries like Nepal, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have stressed nature-based solutions to address the climate crisis for protecting nature.

The IFRC and WWF in Nepal informed that they were launching a strategic partnership with the theme “Working with Nature to Protect People.” This joint initiative aims to recognize the critical role of nature-based solutions in both mitigating and adapting to climate change while fostering resilience among communities on the front lines of the crisis.

Nature-based solutions, such as forest restoration, water source management, wetland rehabilitation, and river-bank plantations, have proven effective in Nepal, offering benefits beyond disaster risk reduction, they reminded, adding, “We reiterate that tackling climate crises requires protecting wildlife and biodiversity at an ecosystem scale, which is vital to create a future in which people and nature thrive together."

"The collaboration between IFRC and WWF Nepal is an opportunity to make a difference at scale, and we call on partners to support our joint efforts,” remarked Country Representative of WWF Nepal in Nepal, Dr Ghana Shyam Gurung.

The partnership between IFRC and WWF will be leveraging their combined expertise and extensive networks to address the ongoing climate crisis, emerging risks, and societal challenges. Through local action and collaboration with government, partners, development agencies, donors, and private sectors, IFRC and WWF aim to integrate nature into climate adaptation strategies.

This also includes engagement with authorities at all levels to provide policy advice and coordinate the initiatives as part of wider humanitarian and development efforts.

Moreover, Head of Delegation at IFRC, Azmat Ulla, observed, "Tackling climate crises requires protecting diversity and wildlife, and this is vital towards sustaining future generations. The IFRC and WWF collaboration is a great opportunity to make a difference and we call on partners to support.” 

Chairman and Managing Director of CG Holdings Arun Chaudhary, who was arrested for illegally appropriating the 10-ropani land belonging to Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory on February 1, has been released on general date on Wednesday.

Ajit Narayan Singh Thapa, the then-chairman of the Bansbari-based factory, and Sanjay Thakur, chairman of Chandbagh School, who were in connection with the case along with Chaudhary, have also been released today.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police released the trio following the order of the Kathmandu District Court.

The District Court on Monday had ordered the CIB to release all of them if the investigation is not completed within two days.

A single bench of Judge Yagya Prasad Acharya had granted the CIB a two-day time to carry out the investigation into the case and issued an order to freed the trio if the investigation is not completed within the given timeframe.

CIB spokesperson Nawaraj Adhikari said that all three including Chaudhary have been released from custody.

The Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory was established in the 1960s with the support of the Chinese government.

The disputed 10 ropanis of land were sold by the Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory to Champion Footwear. Later in 1986, six acres of land were sold to Champion Footwear for Rs 250,000 per ropani, a far cheaper rate than the government valuation at the time. An additional four acres of land were given to get 2,500 shares of the industry.

At that time, along with Arun, Binod Chaudhary, Basant Chaudhary and others were the shareholders of Champion Footwear, which has long ceased to exist.

These days, the former shoe company operates as CG Chandbagh Residency Pvt Ltd, and Chaudhary Group Foundation has been running Chandbagh School here. Arun and his wife Sheela are its shareholders.

The land case was under investigation for the last three months. A three-member team headed by Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati is leading the investigation. The team had gathered evidence from the Department of Land Management and Archive and talked to the locals before arresting the suspects.