Informed sources here said that King Birendra had accepted Chataut's resignation on the recommendation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, though the minister himself had said that he had resigned because he wanted to pave the way for the investigation into the deal by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
A senior official of Nepal's national carrier said that Lauda Air had reached a deal with the RNAC to lease its aircraft for a period of 18 months on payment of $3,350 for each flight hour, but added that it actually worked out to $5,000 per flight hour.
"There was no need for the deal as RNAC has not been able to fly its own two B-757 jets for the minimum guaranteed 300 flight hours a month. It was all because of political pressure as there are millions of dollars involved. The deal was done at the cost of RNAC to cover the flight hours for Lauda Air's 13-year-old leased aircraft. RNAC's aircraft will have to stay idle," the official said.
Chataut has already been questioned by the CIAA to get the facts behind the deal and the reason for keeping it under wraps. Earlier this January , the government suspended RNAC chairman Haribhakta Shrestha on the CIAA's recommendation, which said it was investigating several aviation related deals, including the Lauda Air deal.
"We hope the CIAA will go to the root of the corruption and will not give a clean cheat to others involved in the case and save the RNAC from going bankrupt," the airline official said.
RNAC leased the Boeing 767 Lauda Air aircraft in spite of the directives issued by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) not to go ahead with the deal until investigations by a parliamentary committee into it were completed.
The PAC had questioned Chataut about flouting its directives and when he could not give an acceptable explanation, it summoned Koirala, who assured the committee that his government would take stern action against all those involved in the Lauda Air deal.
"Prime Minister Koirala had a chance to put the brakes on the deal when the PAC summoned him and he was convinced that irregularities were there. On top of everything he kept quite, which means he also has had a direct or indirect deal.
"Now the winter session of Parliament has already been summoned. This corruption scandal will be one of the heated issues and as the head of the government Prime Minister Koirala should take moral responsibility and resign from the post," another PAC member said. (IANS)
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