Kathmandu. Tax Officer SS Pal and Chartered Accountant Rijhan Yadav have also been dragged into the corruption case on the charge of bribery to reduce the tax assessment during the full audit of service recipients. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against Yadav at the Special Court on the charge of acting as a middleman in collusion with tax officer Pal of Inland Revenue Office, Lahan, Siraha.

According to the CIAA, Tax Officer Pal had demanded bribe from the service recipients in the name of settling the work related to tax assessment after the full audit of the fiscal year 2078/79. The CIAA has claimed that Yadav was involved in bargaining the bribe amount after the tax related work was stopped citing non-match bills and invoices submitted by service recipients.

The CIAA has stated in the charge sheet that Yadav was used in the role of ‘settling’ the bribe deal between the tax officer and the service recipient.

A team deputed from the CIAA Bardibas office had arrested Pal red-handed on July 21 while he was taking bribe of Rs 500,000 from a service recipient during the investigation. According to the CIAA, Pal was arrested while receiving five lakh rupees after he asked him to bring the bribe money to the office.

The anti-graft body has accused Pal of illegally demanding bribe from service recipients by abusing his position and responsibility. Likewise, Chartered Accountant Yadav has also been named as a defendant in the case of acting as a middleman in the bribe transaction.

In the charge sheet filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059, the CIAA has demanded punishment and recovery of damages against both the defendants.