KATHMANDU, July 20: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is investigating MPs from the ruling party. Specifically, the CIAA is investigating policy decisions made by CPN-UML lawmaker Mahesh Basnet in the past. Basnet, elected to the House of Representatives from Ilam-1, is under investigation by the CIAA's regional office in Itahari. The office reported a significant error in a decision he made while serving as mayor of Ilam Municipality, allegedly causing harm to the state. The investigation file has been forwarded to the central office in Kathmandu with a recommendation to prosecute him.
The CIAA's Itahari Office has completed its investigation into allegations that government policies and regulations were violated during the construction of City Mart at Ilam Municipality Chowk, resulting in a loss of over Rs 50 million to the state coffers. The investigation file was sent to Kathmandu after summoning MP Basnet twice and recording his statement on the matter. MP Basnet has confirmed the investigation, stating, "They asked for an explanation of what happened; I have already answered."
He became the mayor of Ilam Municipality in 2074 BS and was elected as a federal MP in the general election of 2079 BS. During his tenure as mayor, the construction of City Mart began in 2075 BS and was completed in 2078 BS. The municipality issued a multi-year tender worth Rs 80 million for the City Mart project. Subsequently, a 35 percent 'variation' was added to the tender. The CIAA claims that this variation resulted in a loss of approximately Rs 50 million.
The CIAA asserts that there was a violation of rules, as any increase of more than 25 percent for additional structures should be handled by the federal government rather than the local level. "The investigation has been completed, and the file has been sent to the central office," said a source from the anti-graft body.
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According to the CIAA, a decision on this matter is expected in a few days. Basnet came to the limelight after defeating former Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal, who was previously elected from the same constituency as MP Basnet. Khanal, who had been elected for five consecutive terms, lost to Basnet, ending his 25-year legacy in the constituency.
Basnet won a seat in the House of Representatives from Ilam constituency-1 after defeating Khanal by a significant margin of 2,688 votes. Basnet received 25,750 votes, while Khanal received 23,088 votes.
Basnet served as the mayor of Ilam Municipality twice. During his last term, he demonstrated success in various areas, including construction, physical infrastructure, social security programs, sports, and tourism, helping to establish the local level as a government entity. He is now under investigation by the CIAA concerning the construction of the City Mart, a project executed for the first time in Nepal at the local level under the Public Private Partnership Act.
During his tenure, Basnet oversaw the construction of the Ilam Municipality office building, three covered halls, and a basketball court. He also spearheaded the ambitious Mai Bhagwati Stadium project in Maikhola and launched the 'One Ward One Playground' campaign. Basnet served as the mayor of Ilam Municipality from 2054 to 2059 BS. The CIAA is also investigating other infrastructure projects built during his tenure. "The investigation of City Mart has been completed," said a source from the Itahari office of the authority.
At a time when the CIAA has been active in combating corruption at the local level, the MP from Ilam-1 has also come under investigation. In the last fiscal year, 201 corruption-related cases were filed with the CIAA. The claims against the defendants amount to Rs 8.351 billion in the Special Court.
For the fiscal year 2080/81 BS, the cases include 58 for illegal loss of profits, 48 for bribery, 34 for fake educational certificates, 34 for loss of public property, 13 for revenue leakage/embezzlement, 11 for illegal wealth acquisition, and three miscellaneous cases. The total number of defendants is 1,520, including 524 civil servants, 101 elected representatives, 181 nominated officials, two accountants, two middlemen, 91 businessmen, and 619 other individuals.
In the fiscal year 2080/81 BS, the commission received 26,522 complaints through various channels, and 9,268 complaints were carried over from the previous fiscal year 2079/80 BS, totaling 35,790 complaints. Over 27,000 of these complaints were dismissed. The commission arrested 44 individuals red-handed, resulting in the recovery of Rs 5.242 million.
Among the 44 individuals arrested in these operations, 32 were government employees, nine were accountants, middlemen and three are ward chairmen. According to the anti-graft body, there are 92 cases currently under appeal in the Supreme Court following the decisions made by the Special Court.
