The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has said it will conduct a separate investigation into former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s role in the visit visa scandal, in which high-ranking officials at Tribhuvan International Airport allegedly facilitated the illegal departure of Nepali citizens abroad by accepting bribes under the guise of visit visas.
The case involves a network of middlemen, immigration officers, and travel agents who colluded to bypass mandatory procedures, allowing hundreds of passengers to travel illegally while generating substantial illicit revenue.
Lekhak’s name surfaced after allegations that the illegal operation at Tribhuvan International Airport was carried out under his knowledge and direction. It has been alleged that then joint secretary Tirtharaj Bhattarai was deputed to the airport under Lekhak’s “plan and setting”, enabling a network of bribe-taking and unlawful clearance of passengers travelling on visit visas.
After the incident became public, lawmakers from the then opposition parties—the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Rastriya Swatantra Party—obstructed the House of Representatives, demanding Lekhak’s resignation.
Questions were also raised about the roles of then Home Secretary Gokarna Mani Dawadi, the former chief of the Administration Division at the Home Ministry, Chhabi Rijal, and other officials.
Investigators are examining whether former home ministers, home secretaries, directors general of the Department of Immigration, chiefs of the peace and security division, heads of divisions overseeing immigration and administration, as well as private secretaries and officials at the ministerial secretariat, were involved in illegal financial dealings with accused Tirtharaj Bhattarai. The CIAA said the investigation is underway to determine their possible involvement in arranging the “setting” that enabled the illegal departure of passengers on visit visas.
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