KATHMANDU, April 23: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed corruption cases against 134 high-level government employees over the past four years, according to official data.
The Commission said it filed cases at the Special Court against 134 officials ranging from Chief Secretaries to Under-Secretaries between fiscal years 2020/21 and 2023/24. In addition, cases were also filed against political office holders, elected representatives, and other public officials on corruption-related charges.
The officials named in the cases were working in various ministries, departments, authorities, projects, directorates, municipalities, development committees, hospitals, laboratories, boards, councils, state-owned enterprises, government offices, and other institutions including Nepal Telecom, Nepal Airlines Corporation, and other public bodies. They were accused of causing financial losses to public property.
Some of the accused have been acquitted, while others are still facing cases at the Special Court and the Supreme Court.
According to the CIAA, a total of 166,520 complaints were registered over the four-year period, of which 121,943 cases (73.23%) were settled. During the same period, 798 cases were filed at the Special Court.
The cases involved 4,662 defendants, with claims of corruption amounting to Rs 31.52 billion. The Special Court has so far established corruption charges in about 55 percent of these cases. The CIAA has filed review petitions in the Supreme Court in 719 cases where charges were not initially established, and nine of those cases have later been ruled as corruption.
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Chief Commissioner Prem Kumar Rai and other office bearers assumed office on January 21, 2021. The CIAA noted that complaints, case settlements, and case filings have increased in the FY 2023/24 compared to 2020/21.
According to spokesperson Suresh Neupane, 12,496 complaints were registered by mid-January 2020/21, with 46 cases filed involving 230 defendants. In the current fiscal year up to the end of Chaitra (mid-April), 28,416 complaints were received, 121 cases were filed, and 429 defendants were named.
In 2020/21, 68 percent of cases resulted in confirmed corruption findings. In the current FY, the rate stands at 48.85 percent.
In 2021/22, 24,331 complaints were registered, with 70.56 percent settled and 131 cases filed involving 639 defendants. In 2022/23, 28,065 complaints were registered, 66.98 percent were settled, and 161 cases were filed involving 766 defendants, with a 33.43 percent conviction rate.
In 2023/24, 36,186 complaints were registered, 76.59 percent were settled, and 201 cases were filed involving 1,545 defendants, with a 65.67 percent conviction rate.
The CIAA has taken action against officials from various federal and provincial ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Land Management, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Inland Revenue Department, Department of Mines and Geology, Department of Water Resources and Irrigation, Department of Land Management, Department of Health Services, Customs Department, and Revenue Investigation Department.
Cases were also filed against officials from provincial ministries and offices including Madhesh Province, Lumbini Province, and Gandaki Province, as well as Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Jitpur-Simara Sub-Metropolitan City, Kalaiya Sub-Metropolitan City, National Information Technology Center, Security Printing Center, and various hospitals and public institutions.
Institutions such as the Pokhara International Airport Project, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences Dharan, Rapti Health Sciences Institute, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Pashupati Area Development Trust, Melamchi Water Supply Development Board, Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Telecom, Agricultural Materials Company Limited, and Nepal Airlines Corporation were also involved in cases against senior officials.
Among the senior officials charged during this period are Baikuntha Aryal, Ram Kumar Shrestha Nepal, Shankar Prasad Adhikari, Sanjay Sharma, Chhabiraj Pant, Sushil Ghimire, Suraj Man Shrestha, Suman Prasad Sharma, Bhekhraj Sharma, Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Ranjan Krishna Aryal, Mohan Krishna Sapkota, Lok Bahadur Khadka, Suresh Acharya, Surya Prasad Acharya, Madhu Kumar Marasini, Mukunda Prasad Paudel, Jit Bahadur Thapa, Lalmani Joshi, Surendra Bahadur Thapa, Chudamani Sharma, Ram Prasad Ghimire, Madhukar Prasad Rajbhandari, Keshar Bahadur Baniya, and others.
Other officials facing cases include Ritesh Kumar Shakya, Baikuntha Adhikari, Ishwar Chandra Marhatta, Yam Prasad Bhusal, Prem Kumar Shrestha, Namrata Singh, Um Narayan Shrestha, Umesh Dhungana, Basant Raj Gautam, Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, Shivraj Sedhai, Prahlad Prasad Barnwal, Pradeep Pariyar, Rudra Singh Tamang, Tanka Prasad Pandey, Bikal Paudel, and Sunil Paudel.
Further individuals named include Balram Thapa Chhetri, Shrawan Kumar Thapa, Sanjay Kumar Thakur, Lal Babu Giri, Lumbadhwaj Mahat, Kanturam Paneru, Gopal Rasaili, Netra Prasad Joshi, Dhiraaj Regmi, Chandrabahadur Adhikari, Surya Prasad Silwal, Digambar Jha, and others.
Additional officials charged include Pradeep Adhikari, Baburam Paudel, Binesh Munakarmi, Gyanendra Giri, Sangita Singh Bhandari, Suman Kumar Shrestha, Roshan Chitrakar, Rishikesh Sharma, Mahendra Singh Rawal, Lain Bahadur Thapa, Balram Thakur, Ghanashyam Khatri, Ram Chandra Devkota, Surya Raj Kandel, Milan Kumar Thapa, Ram Krishna Timilsina, Nawal Kishor Shah, Mahesh Prasad Kafle, Amul Pradhan, Raj Kumar Khatri, Anand Raj Khanal, and Dipesh Acharya.
Others include Surendra Lal Hadha, Dipesh Acharya, Bijay Kumar Rai, Sagar Panthi, Netra Bahadur Bhandari, Devendra Khatiwada, Pratibha Shrestha, Rajendra Shrestha, Sangita Aryal, Jhabindralal Upadhyaya, Rabindra Nath Shrestha, Dhan Raj Gyawali, Tika Prasad Upreti, Chandrabahadur Thapa, Triratna Manandhar, Satish Chandra Lal Suman, Sanjin Gautam, Rajan Pokharel, Sugat Ratna Kansakar, Surendra Kumar Paudel, Bom BC, Chhabiraman Adhikari, Um Prasad Dhakal, and Pradeep Dhakal.
