KATHMANDU, June 23:  The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 12 individuals, including Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal. 

The CIAA filed the case on Sunday against individuals involved in corruption in the printing of excise-duty stickers. Among the others allegedly involved in the corruption case are Ritesh Kumar Shakya, Director General of the Revenue Department, Tanka Prasad Pandey, Deputy Director General of  the Department of Customs, Bikal Paudel, Ganesh Bikram Shah, Bishnu Prasad Gautam, Hari Ballabh Ghimire and Keshab Sharma.

The anti-graft body has demanded compensation of Rs 386.7 million from them. The chief secretary has been automatically suspended after the corruption case was filed.

Who will be the next Chief Secretary?

Following the CIAA registration of a corruption case against Chief Secretary Aryal in the Special Court, the competition for the next chief secretary has begun. 

The government is preparing to appoint Lila Devi Gadtaula as the acting chief secretary.

Gadtaula is currently serving at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. She was promoted to secretary in the first week of November 2020. She is from the judicial group.

In terms of ranking order, Toya Narayan Gyawali, Ram Krishna Subedi, Dinesh Bhattarai, Tek Narayan Pandey, Madhu Kumar Marasini and Ek Narayan Aryal are in the priority list.

Currently, Gyawali is serving in the National Planning Commission while Subedi is serving in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

Dinesh Bhattarai is in the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens while Madhu Kumar Marasini has recently been transferred to the Ministry of Finance. Ek Narayan Aryal is leading the Home Administration.

Now, the main competition is considered to be between Subedi and Aryal. Both of the candidates are preferred by the current ruling coalition, especially CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center).

Even though Gyawali is the first choice, he is not preferred by the current ruling coalition. Gyawali will retire on September 7, if he is not promoted to the post of chief secretary.  

The government has termed the performance of Dinesh Bhattarai at the Ministry of Home Affairs as not satisfactory.

Tek Narayan Pandey is suspended in connection to the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. There is also a corruption case sub judice against Marasini, and therefore he is less likely to be shortlisted by the government.