Former Nepal PM charged in land swap case — Kathmandu Post
In Nepal, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed an indictment with the Special Court against former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, former minister and Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, and another 95 people. The case was opened over a reportedly illegal swap and sale of state land in Morang district, Kathmandu Post reports.
The CIAA is seeking compensation for damages amounting to 734.956 million Nepalese rupees, prison sentences and fines, as well as the confiscation of land plots transferred under the disputed scheme. According to the commission, these plots should have been confiscated and kept in state or public ownership.
Terms of land use
At the center of the case is Rijal Canning and Company. It was allowed to retain about 40 hectares of land in Morang above the legally established landholding limit, on the condition that it operated a fruit-processing enterprise. The CIAA claims that the company did not use the land for that purpose, and therefore the government decided to confiscate it in 1992.
However, according to the commission, the company was later allowed to exchange two plots in Biratnagar with a total area of about 2.9 hectares for land of equal area in Banigama, Morang district. According to the indictment, the company bought the land in Banigama for 1.285 million rupees and sold the two plots in Biratnagar for 83.8625 million rupees. The difference between the recorded prices was 82.5775 million rupees.
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Government committee decision
The CIAA investigation found that restrictions on the two plots were lifted on August 28, 2006, after then land reform official Umanath Pandey interpreted a Supreme Court ruling. The commission believes this paved the way for the subsequent exchange, although the land was not used for the declared industrial activity.
The exchange process intensified in 2009. In November, the Ministry of Land Reform and Management submitted a proposal to the Cabinet, which referred it to the Social Committee. According to the indictment, the committee approved the exchange on December 1. The CIAA accuses Rijal, who coordinated the committee at the time, of approving the proposal despite the company’s alleged violation of the conditions for exemption from the landholding limit.
Of the 97 defendants, the CIAA classified 46 people, including Nepal and Rijal, as those considered directly involved in the alleged offense. Others were included in the case to recover the claimed damages or confiscate property. This is the second corruption case against Nepal: in June 2025, the CIAA charged him and another 92 people in a case involving land belonging to Patanjali Yogpeeth and Ayurveda Company Nepal. Nepal denied wrongdoing.
