August 1: Maoist leader Janardan Sharma, who stepped down as finance minister after a parliamentary probe committee was formed to investigate his alleged involvement in changing the tax rate under the influence of unauthorized persons, has finally returned to his office after 25 days.

Sharma was reappointed finance minister on Sunday after the parliamentary special probe committee gave him a clean chit due to lack of sufficient evidences to establish his role in bringing unauthorized persons into the Finance Ministry on the eve of budget announcement on May 28.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Janardan Sharma as the finance minister upon the recommendation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Maoist Centre had earlier urged Deuba to reappoint Sharma to his former post after the parliamentary probe committee submitted its report to the House of Representatives.

PM Deuba was looking after the finance ministry after Sharma tendered his resignation on July 6 last month.

The main opposition party CPN UML had been intensifying its protest after Sharma was accused of bringing unauthorized persons in the ministry to change the tax rates. Speaker of the House of Representatives then formed an 11-member probe committee on July 6 to investigate the allegations against Sharma after which he stepped down.

President Bhandari administered oath of office and secrecy to Sharma amid a function on Sunday evening. Soon after taking oath, Sharma reached the finance ministry and assumed his responsibilities. Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini was absent while Sharma took oath of office on Sunday. Marasini, who is said to be close to Sharma in the past, did not cooperate with him this time while Sharma was in crisis. When the CPN UML warned of obstructing the parliament if Sharma did not resign, Marasini took an indefinite leave citing health problem. However, Marasini returned to office the very next day after Sharma resigned from his post. It is believed that Marasini will be in ethical problem after the reinstatement of Sharma.

Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar had welcomed Sharma after his reinstatement as finance minister. After returning to his office, Finance Minister Sharma said that he had announced a budget to substitute imports and instructed the concerned officials to implement the provision.