KATHMANDU, Sept 24: The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) on Friday produced a file related to the appointment of Lokman Singh Karki as chief commissioner at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

The apex court on August 26 sought the original files regarding the appointment of Karki as CIAA chief in May, 2014 and the original files regarding the decision on March 25, 2007 of the then government  to seek some clarifications from Karki. However, the Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) is yet to furnish the files related to the clarifications. 

Earlier, the OPMCM and MoGA had replied to the court that the files could not be found in the records. Following this, a bench of Chief Justice Sushila Karki and Justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and Sapana Pradhan Malla on September 17 decided to take up again a writ petition related to Karki's appointment. The bench also warned the government of legal action if the files were not furnished as per the court order.

"The Office of the Prime Minister on Friday furnished the files sought by the court but the Ministry of General Administration is yet to send any files," said Bishwaraj Paudel, deputy spokesperson of the court. 

Earlier, secretary at OPMCM Mahendra Man Gurung had replied to the court that the files could not be found because the devastating earthquake of April 25, 2015 damaged the office and it had to shift to another building. 

Likewise, MoGA had said that it could not find the decade-old file since there was no records system for such old files. 

Advocate Om Prakash Aryal had filed two writ petitions in May, 2014 -- one demanding a court order to stop the government from appointing Karki, and a subsequent  writ demanding annulment of the appointment decision.

The division bench of Justices Gopal Parajuli and Om Prakash Mishra quashed both the writ petitions on September 24, 2014, and advocate Aryal then filed a review petition at the apex court. 

 
• office of the prime minister and council of ministers
 
• commission for investigation of abuse of authority (ciaa)