INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, MARCH 20The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has written to Speaker Devraj Ghimire
informing him that it is investigating Nepali Congress lawmaker Binod Chaudhary in connection with the Bansbari Leather and Shoe factory
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Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Ekram Giri told THT that CIB write to Speaker
Ghimire informing him that lawmaker Chaudhary was being probed in Bansbari land grab case
Giri said that he did not have the knowledge of Nepal Police informing the Speaker of an ongoing investigation against a lawmaker in the
past but he did not mean the police erred by informing the Speaker.CIB Chief AIG Shyam Lal Gyanwali told THT that his office informed the
Speaker to avoid any allegation of breach of the privilege of the Parliament.
We informed the house so that if the
detectives investing Bansbari land grab case deems it necessary to summon lawmaker Chaudhary and record his statement no question of breach
of parliamentary privilege could be raised and no question of Chaudhary being detained could be raised, Gyanwali added.Deputy Prime Minister
and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has directed the Nepal Police to record the statements of all involved in illegal transfer of Bansbari
Leather Shoe Factory land into private ownership, including lawmaker Chaudhary and proceed with the investigation
Chaudhary is Nepal's first and only billionaire listed in the Forbes Magazine.On February 1, Nepal Police had arrested Binod Chaudhary's
younger brother industrialist Arun Chaudhary, chairman and managing director of CG Holding, on charge of transferring around 10 ropanis
(approximately 5,500 sq ft) land area of government-owned Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory into private property.CIB had also arrested Ajit
Narayan Singh Thapa, the then executive head of the BLSF, and Sanjay Thakur, chairman of the steering committee of BLSF along with Arun
Chaudhary.All three arrestee was later released on court date by Kathmandu District Court.The BLSF, a state-owned factory was established
with the support of the Chinese Government in 1960s
The factory had done good business in the first year in less than two years into operation, the factory started seeing dramatic fall in its
The authorities at the helm of the factory started showing that the business was not benefitting and decided to sell the 10 ropanis land to
A government document, as made public by ukaalo.com shows that the seven ropanis of the BLSF land was sold at the price of Rs 150,000 by the
decision of the BLSF steering committee on 29 August, 1989
The price was very less than the actual market price
The land was sold to another private leather shoe manufacturer called Champions Footwear.Moreover, the government factory never received the
money, instead, it was given a share of Champion Footwear
The shareholders of Champion Footwear were Binod Chaudhary and Arun Kumar Chaudhary among many others mostly belonging to the Chaudhary clan
Later three more ropanis of BLSF was transferred to Champions Footwear in exchange for the share
The Champion Footwear was shut after three years of its operation
After the closure of the Champion Footwear, the 10 ropanis land was transferred to private ownership of Chandbag Residence owned by Arun
Chaudhary and his wife Shila.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
