The Nawalparasi District Court has granted bail totaling Rs 8m to 12 officials of Palhi Multipurpose Cooperative Society in an embezzlement case. The accused include the cooperative’s chairperson, board members, and accounting staff allegedly involved in misappropriating savers’ funds.
The orders were issued on different dates by three separate benches of judges Keshav Prasad Adhikari, Hari Prasad Sharma, and Ramananda Prasad Adhikari, said Janaki Raman Yadav, the court registrar.
Cooperative Chairperson Ramkishore Teli was ordered to post the bail amount of Rs 1.5m, while Vice-chairperson Nathu Mali and accounts coordinator Santaram Prasad Yadav were each directed to pay Rs 1m. Other board members including Suresh Prasad Chaudhary, Birendra Kumar Yadav, Ramsewak Chaudhary, Rabindra Pasi, Pramod Yadav, and Sugriva Tiwari were granted bail at Rs 500,000 each. Accounts committee members Janaki Devi Kurmi and Izhar Dhuniya, along with management member Ramanand Yadav, were ordered to pay Rs 500,000 each.
Most of the accused have paid their bail in cash, while some submitted collateral. Meanwhile, three other accused, Kamala Devi Kahar and Sanjay Kurmi, and Munlal Yadav, remain wanted by authorities.
The scandal came to light when 1,041 depositors, mostly local farmers and laborers, were unable to withdraw their savings from the 1,376-member cooperative. The crisis emerged after years of delayed board elections and unaudited financial records, prompting an investigation that uncovered Rs 8.58m in missing funds. A formal case was filed on Feb 23. The court said that refunds to depositors will only be processed after establishing guilt through due process.
