The Morang District Court on Wednesday granted bail to Anjala Koirala, wife of Rishikesh Pokharel, chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives, who has been accused of embezzling cooperative funds. The court made the decision following a detention hearing on Wednesday.

Judge Uddhav Kumar Bhattarai presided over the hearing, where Koirala was ordered to post Rs1 million in bail. Koirala had appeared in court the same morning and provided her statement before arguments from both the prosecution and the defence.

The case involves the alleged embezzlement of Rs220 million from the Umagauri Agricultural Cooperative in Morang’s Dhanpalthan Rural Municipality-4, where Koirala served on the board since fiscal year 2072-073 BS. A total of 26 individuals, including cooperative chairperson Shambhu Rauniyar, face charges, with 24 still absconding.

Koirala’s defence team consisted of nine senior advocates and 11 legal representatives. Earlier, Santalal Khawas, a ward chair from Rangeli-2 and another accused in the case was also released on bail.

The District Attorney’s Office claims the cooperative funds were systematically misappropriated, affecting members and stakeholders. Investigations are ongoing.

House committee chair Pokharel is a leader from the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s party, the CPN-UML.