KATHMANDU, June 17: KATHMANDU, June 17: The Special Court has granted the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) permission to keep Department of Passports (DoP) Director General Tirtha Raj Aryal and Information Technology Director Sunil Kumar KC in custody for four days for investigation into alleged irregularities in a multi-billion-rupee passport printing contract.
Court spokesperson Krishna Sharan Lamichhane said the order was issued by a bench comprising Chairperson Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and members Umesh Koirala and Bidur Koirala. The CIAA had arrested the two officials earlier in connection with the procurement process.
According to sources, Aryal had been summoned to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday and arrived carrying files related to passport procurement. Following discussions attended by officials from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, a CIAA team took him into custody from the Prime Minister’s Office.
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Sources said a senior CIAA official had visited the Prime Minister’s Office and held discussions with Secretariat staff before Aryal’s arrest. A CIAA team led by Chief Commissioner Prem Kumar Rai reportedly reviewed procurement documents and concluded that further investigation was necessary, leading to the arrests of Aryal and KC.
The investigation centers on a controversial passport printing contract awarded last year after the expiration of an agreement with the previous contractor. In mid-July, the DoP signed contracts with two German firms—Muehlbauer and Veridos—to print nearly 6.4 million passports. The procurement process had drawn scrutiny from the outset.
The DoP signed agreements worth more than Rs 7.5 billion with the two companies. According to sources, Muehlbauer ID Services GmbH secured a contract worth Rs 1.55 billion, while Veridos GmbH was awarded a contract worth Rs 6.11 billion. The companies were required to complete passport printing by the end of the current fiscal year.
Sources said the Prime Minister’s Secretariat had begun examining the procurement process around two weeks ago amid concerns over possible irregularities. As part of that review, Aryal was asked to bring documents related to the contract process and was arrested while at the Prime Minister’s Office with the files.
Muehlbauer’s representative in Nepal is Dinesh Manandhar, while Veridos is represented by Siddhartha Thapa, son of National Assembly member Sunil Thapa.
Before the latest contracts, the DoP had awarded a passport printing contract to the French company IDEMIA. In 2020, the department signed a Rs 2.5 billion agreement with the firm, a deal that had also sparked controversy. The new contracts were signed after the expiration of the IDEMIA agreement.
IDEMIA’s local representative in Nepal is Delta Four, operated by Siddhartha Pandey.
Sources further said officials at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat have also raised questions over the decision to split the passport printing project and award separate contracts to two different companies, suspecting possible irregularities in the process.
