CIAA charges ex-PM Madhav Nepal, Minendra Rijal and 95 others in Rs 735 million land case

Nepal's anti-graft body has formally charged a former prime minister and a former Cabinet minister over a land deal that is two decades old. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, or CIAA, filed a corruption case at the Special Court on Tuesday, November 3, against 97 people, including former prime minister and Nepal Communist Party, or NCP, co-coordinator Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Nepali Congress leader and former minister Minendra Rijal, CIAA spokesperson Suresh Neupane said, according to Republica. The commission has claimed Rs 734.956 million, about Rs 73.49 crore, in damages. This newsroom could not confirm Nepal Rastra Bank's dollar rate for November 3, 2026, so no dollar figure is given.

The case centers on land in Biratnagar that Rijal Canning and Company Pvt Ltd held under a ceiling exemption meant for a fruit processing plant. The CIAA says this land should have been confiscated and kept as public property, Setopati reported. It wants the Rs 734.956 million it says the government lost paid back, Republica reported. The CIAA says the government decided in 1992 to confiscate the land after the company failed to use it as promised, but the freeze never stuck. The Supreme Court voided that confiscation order in 1997 and told the government to act "as per law," Setopati reported. In 2006, the then Morang land reform officer, Umanath Pandey, released the freeze on two of the plots, a decision the CIAA now calls a misreading of the court's order.

That reopened the door to a swap. The company sold its valuable Biratnagar plot for Rs 83.86 million and bought cheaper land in Banigama for just Rs 1.285 million, Republica and Setopati reported, citing the CIAA. The CIAA claims its investigation found that much of the Banigama land was pits, dirt track and stream, and that the company never used it, Setopati reported. The swap went through after the Cabinet referred the land ministry's 2009 proposal to its Social Committee, which Rijal then coordinated as federal affairs minister. Rijal approved the exchange weeks later, the CIAA alleges.

What the coverage missed

The CIAA says Rijal had a family relationship with Rijal Canning's directors and took part in the decision despite that conflict of interest, Setopati reported. Republica and OnlineKhabar English did not carry this finding. Republica wrote instead of "alleged collusion among officials."

Nepal Press reported 94 defendants and Rs 76 crore in damages. The CIAA statement carried by Republica gives 97 defendants and Rs 734.956 million. Parvati Hitan, the Special Court's information officer, gave Setopati the same totals.

A separate corruption case over the Patanjali land affair is already pending against Madhav Nepal at the same court, OnlineKhabar English and DC Nepal reported. Neither outlet detailed its legal basis.

Eight of those named have already died, among them former land reform minister Dambar Shrestha, Ratopati reported. Ratopati also listed former chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire among the dead. DC Nepal and OnlineKhabar English reported that he went missing in a Trishuli River vehicle accident. OnlineKhabar English reported that a daughter of Ghimire is among those named. Republica reported that heirs were made defendants solely to recover losses. Nepal Press reported, as republished by Hamropatro, that 43 of the defendants face land confiscation.

What we still do not know

Neither Nepal nor Rijal has publicly responded to the charges in any report reviewed for this story. Their offices or parties could confirm whether a response is coming.

The CIAA chargesheet lists current holders of the disputed Biratnagar land as defendants for confiscation purposes, but no report names them. The Land Revenue Office in Morang or the chargesheet's annex could answer who they are.

How long the Special Court will take to decide this case, and whether the pending Patanjali land case offers any clue, remains open. The Special Court registrar could answer that.