CIAA launches probe into driver's license case

Published On: January 11, 2024 05:15 PM NPT By: Tapendra Karki

KATHMANDU, Jan 11: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has launched an investigation into the issue of driver's license being granted without conducting trial tests.

The CIAA’s team has reached the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) for the investigation and asked for all the details. “The CIAA’s team reached the DoTM on January 10. The team asked for details on the software. We had already decided to give all the details. We will send it by today,” said Uddhav Prasad Rijal, director general of the DoTM. Rijal said that if the CIAA investigates, it will be easier for the DoTM to solve the problems that are stalled from the past.

Earlier, the CIAA had sent a letter to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) asking them to disclose all the details about the distribution of licenses.

While the investigation committee formed under the coordination of Under Secretary Mukesh Regmi, the chief of the information technology section, the CIAA asked the MoPIT to provide all the details after receiving 13 complaints that there were irregularities in the distribution of licenses. After the DoTM requested the CIAA to conduct the necessary investigation, the team reached the DoTM to get the details.

The investigation conducted by the DoTM itself has shown that about 5.5 million licenses have been distributed by the DoTM so far and about 100,000 of them have been issued illegally.

After the CIAA’s team reached the DoTM, the information technology section informed them about all the details and procedures and printed the entry details on the computer after 2072 BS. The section also provided technical information regarding data entry in the computer.

The DoTM conducted an investigation after receiving a complaint that the employees of the DoTM were involved in granting licenses by taking bribes through middlemen without asking the applicants passing the written and trial tests. In the report of the inquiry committee of the DoTM, the names of the employees have also been included in the list.

The report has now been submitted to the CIAA with the conclusion of the investigation committee that more than 100,000 licenses were granted illegally from 2072 BS to 2080 BS. Section Officer Arjun Adhikari, IT Engineer Bodh Raj Baral and DSP Tapan Kumar Dahal of Nepal Police Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) were members of the investigation committee. The report submitted by the committee to the director general of the DoTM on January 5 was sent to the CIAA on January 7.

It is mentioned in the investigation report that the licenses were distributed for a price ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 in collusion between the employees of the DoTM and middlemen. After 2070 BS, the records were digitized through a software system.

In the investigation report of the DoTM, it is mentioned that only the employees who have knowledge about technical and cyber security have assisted in providing licenses in an illegal manner.

The report concludes that the names of the employees who were in the role of director general at different times should be kept in the schedule and they should also be investigated.

In the schedule of the report, it is mentioned that the distribution of illegal licenses has been encouraged by the director generals, who have been the head of the DoTM at various times, not being strict with employees.

Sources said that from the investigation, it was found that with the involvement of high-ranking employees of the DoTM, licenses were distributed by charging money without written and trial exams.

According to the report, after 2072 BS, Shree Chandra Shah and Pabitra Dangol have held the position of director of the IT section of the DoTM. Similarly, Raj Kumar Maharjan, Keshav Raj Gautam, Kapila Shrestha, Santosh Pokharel and Suraj Prakash Aryal are the computer engineers recommended for further investigation.

The report mentioned that Bhanu Bhakta Joshi has been a computer engineer in the information technology section of the DoTM for the last one year. In the past, the committee called all the technical employees working in the information technology section for statements, but only computer engineers Pokharel, Aryal and director Dangol were present.