Probe committee records statement of former Finance Minister Sharma

The parliamentary special committee formed to investigate the issue about allowing the unauthorized persons to enter the Finance Ministry while making the budget, recorded the statement of former Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Thursday.

The parliamentary special probe committee questioned former minister Sharma at its office this morning.

Talking to journalists after recording the statement, Sharma said the he answered all the questions asked by the committee.

Likewise, probe committee secretary Surendra Aryal said that Sharma repeated the same thing he had said in the Parliament earlier.

Sharma said that no one had entered the Ministry without the permission of the authorized persons.

Aryal said that the committee has not been able to get the CCTV footage of the two unauthorized persons entering the Ministry on the eve of the budget presentation.

He further said that the hard disk of the CCTV has been sent to the forensic lab of the Nepal Police to retrieve the missing CCTV footage.

Aryal was of the opinion that they will move ahead on the basis of the report of Nepal Police.

Former Minister Sharma is accused of inviting two outsiders in this chamber to tweak tax rates a day before he presented the budget in the Parliament.

The committee has already questioned 10 officials of the ministry involved in making the budget.

The deadline of the committee is expiring today. The committee has urged Speaker Agni Sapkota to extend the time.