By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar. 1: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a case in a special court in Kathmandu seeking action against former minister and former secretary Ram Kumar Shrestha accusing him of amassing property worth over Rs. 40 million illegally.

Former secretary Shrestha was sworn in as a member of the Council of Ministers on March 18, 2013, and remained in the position until February 11, 2014.
CIAA spokesman Shyam Prasad Bhandari said that Shrestha's movable and immovable property, including bank savings, has been blocked.

He said that the investigation into the assets of Shrestha, who had been in the public service for 38 years, did not show the source of Rs. 45.5 million he owned and demanded action against him.
According to the CIAA, the demand of Rs. 37.6 million for compensation was still short even after blocking his land and bank savings. It has been claimed that the shortfall amount would be covered from the property registered in the name of Shrestha's wife and son.

Former minister Shrestha entered the public service as a teacher on March 31, 1970 and retired from the post of special secretary on January 22, 2008.
When an election government was formed under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi in 2013, Shrestha was appointed Minister for Youth and Sports, Peace and Reconstruction and Tourism and Civil Aviation.

According to the CIAA, Shrestha earned Rs. 113.544 million while he was in the public service.
It is revealed from the investigation that he spent Rs. 69 million during the period. According to the CIAA, the investigation has confirmed that Shrestha earned property illegally abusing his authority while he was in the public service.