CIAA investigations

Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has frozen the purchase of 70 ropanies (35,616 sq ft) of land made by the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned entity. Last week, officials from the CIAA also raided police headquarters and seized files relating to the procurement of jackets to police personnel. The investigations have just begun and may take time to reach a conclusion; therefore, we have to wait before pointing fingers at either the NOC or Nepal Police. But the very fact that the CIAA has taken the first key step by opening a formal investigation indicates about possible irregularities in these cases.



In any case, both these organizations are not known for maintaining transparency and fairness in procurement cases, nor do they have a good track record of taking the issue of accountability seriously. That’s unfortunate given the amount of annual transaction that takes place through the NOC and because of the role that Nepal Police is supposed to play in maintaining discipline and making sure that the rule of law is duly followed. We hope that the CIAA will expedite investigations maintaining a high degree of impartiality and competence and make public the findings on these cases as soon as possible.



As we praise the CIAA for all the hard work that it does to curb abuse of authority, we also call for more rigor in its investigations and full preparation before filing cases in the court of law so that no innocent person is victimized and, at the same time, no culprit escapes justice. Only yesterday, the Supreme Court cleared former Nepal Rastra Bank Governor, Bijaya Nath Bhattarai, of all charges based on which the CIAA had taken him to court. This is not the first time that the CIAA has lost a case in the court of law, nor is it going to be the last time. Such failures only raise questions about CIAA’s competence and even its intentions.



We are aware of the tumultuous past of the CIAA itself – sometimes it was made defunct by the elected government while at other times, the royal regime created a parallel organization, rendering it irrelevant. However, the success of People’s Movement in 2006 April salvaged the CIAA and equipped it with the legal teeth that it sorely needed to fight corruption. But that’s not enough. The CIAA currently has an active chief and only two commissioners. The Constitutional Council has failed to recommend the appointment of a new chief commissioner after the retirement of Surya Nath Upadhyay, some two years ago. We also urge the political leadership to expedite appointment and provide necessary financial and technical support to this constitutional body so that it can enhance its efficiency and take on corruption cases more effectively.

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