KATHMANDU, Sept 18: When fire swept through Singha Durbar, the Supreme Court, Kathmandu District Court and other major institutions during the protests on September 9 last year, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) was also attacked.
Its headquarters and offices in Itahari, Pokhara and Hetauda were set on fire. Forensic laboratories and 73 vehicles were destroyed. No investigation established who directed the people who entered the commission’s forensic laboratory and burnt equipment and case files. Despite the damage, the CIAA continued its investigations and took several major cases to court.
According to its annual report for fiscal year 2025/26, submitted to President Ramchandra Paudel on Thursday, the commission filed 175 corruption cases at the Special Court. It charged 990 people and sought to recover Rs 25.23 billion in alleged losses.
The cases included 56 involving damage to public property, 41 involving bribery, 27 involving the unlawful use of public office for personal gain and 11 involving illicit wealth. Although the CIAA can investigate money laundering linked to corruption, it filed only five such cases.
The commission received 33,500 complaints during the year. Including 7,000 carried over from the previous year, it had about 40,000 complaints to handle. The largest number, 20,025, concerned alleged corruption in local governments. Another 15,512 concerned the federal government.
CIAA files corruption cases against 1,545 people in a year, ove...
The report says complaints lacking evidence were set aside. Of the 24,000 received at the headquarters, about 20,000 were disposed of. Among federal ministries, more than 3,000 complaints concerned the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. Agencies under the Ministry of Education and Sports drew 1,983 complaints, while those under the Home Ministry drew 1,757.
The Special Court delivered decisions in 156 cases filed by the CIAA during the year. Offences were established in 81, with defendants either convicted or released on bail. The commission has faced questions when it fails to prove cases in court. Its spokesperson, Neupane, said the CIAA had appealed Special Court decisions to the Supreme Court and would make greater use of technology in its investigations.
Major cases filed during the year
The CIAA charged seven people, including former Civil Aviation Authority director general Pradip Adhikari, over alleged corruption of Rs 130 million in the construction of the Nalanchok heliport in Bhaktapur. Adhikari is in custody pending trial.
It also filed a case alleging Rs 8 billion in corruption in the construction of Pokhara Regional International Airport. Five former ministers and 10 former secretaries were charged. The case, which remains before the court, alleges wrongdoing dating back to the award of the construction contract to a Chinese company. Former ministers Ram Sharan Mahat, Bhim Acharya, Ram Kumar Shrestha, Deepak Chandra Acharya and the late Post Bahadur Bogati were named as defendants, along with Adhikari.
The article also reports allegations that advisers and personal staff in Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s secretariat have pressured the CIAA. In a dispute over a passport printing contract, the secretariat was accused of pressing the commission to prosecute former Department of Passports director general Tirtha Raj Aryal and 17 others. Aryal was arrested and charged, but he and the other accused have since been released on bail.
Some CIAA employees say pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office has hampered investigations, including scrutiny of current office holders. One joint secretary said staff faced demands to act against named individuals before they had gathered evidence. Such interference, he said, had weakened morale at the constitutional body.
He pointed to cases brought against former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and figures implicated in the Pokhara airport and widebody aircraft purchase investigations. The commission had also charged more than 100 provincial lawmakers, ministers and local government officials, he said.
Bribes moved abroad
The CIAA has said proceeds from major corruption cases are often transferred outside Nepal. Chief Commissioner Prem Kumar Rai told a parliamentary committee that Nepal needs laws and international cooperation to recover those funds and confiscate assets held abroad.
In its widebody aircraft purchase case, the commission alleged corruption of Rs 1.47 billion. It has said it could not recover suspected bribe money because the transactions took place in Singapore and Dubai. Investigations into Sunil Poudel and Bikal Poudel, who were convicted in a telecommunications corruption case, also found that money had been moved to Singapore and the United States.
Addressing the House of Representatives’ State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on Bhadra 4, Rai called for laws that would allow investigators to examine corruption carried out under the cover of “policy decisions”.
He said the CIAA had charged former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal in the Patanjali land case on the basis of a decision made in his personal capacity. Cabinet decisions made with improper intent, however, are often treated as policy decisions and placed beyond investigation, Rai argued.
