Ex-PM Nepal, ex-minister Rijal among 97 charged in Morang land swap scam

The anti-graft body filed the chargesheet at the Special Court, seeking Rs734.956 million in damages, prison terms, fines, and confiscation of the land. This is the second corruption case brought against Nepal, who is already facing prosecution over the 2010 Patanjali land scam. In June 2025, the CIAA charged him and 92 others over the purchase and subsequent sale of around 32 hectares of land acquired by Patanjali Yogpeeth and Ayurveda Company Nepal under a land-ceiling exemption.

Nepal denied wrongdoing. At the centre of the latest case is Rijal Canning and Company, which was allowed to retain 59 bigha, nine kattha and 12 dhur (around 40 hectares) of land in Morang beyond the statutory landholding ceiling on the condition that it operate a fruit-processing factory. The CIAA says the company did not use the land for that purpose and that the government had decided in 1992 to confiscate the property.

However, rather than completing the confiscation process, the company was later allowed to exchange land, the commission alleges.