| ananta |
Posted
on 17-Aug-02 10:04 AM
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CIAA Begins Probe on Revenue Officials
Online Report
Kathmandu, Aug. 17:
In the first ever such probe, the Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Friday raided the houses of 22 public officials, including two at the level of joint secretary, under the government's revenue administration.
The Commission, which has launched the probe upon complaints alleging Finance Ministry officials of amassing undue wealth, estimates that the investigation will establish a large amount of property was earned through corrupt practices.
"The Chief Commissioner and other Commissioners oversaw the investigation, seizure of the property and report preparation during the course of raid launched by the CIAA staff," the commission said in a release Saturday.
As per the provisions of the Corruption Control Act-2059 B. S. and the CIAA Act (Second Amendment), the illegally earned property of those assuming public offices would be seized and they would be imprisoned for two years if they are found involved in such activities. Action against such individuals would also be initiated on the basis of the quantity of property earned illegally.
The Commission release said it acted following complaints that the employees had been leading luxurious lives unlikely for people at that level of income.
The Commission raided the houses of two joint secretaries, six under secretaries, three section officers and 11 non-gazetted employees.
Among those under investigation include Sriram Pant, Ishwore Pokharel, Janardhan Sharma, Sharad Kant Adhikari, Bharat Subedi, Yardhoj Jung Karki, Srijan Khadka, Bharat Ghimire, Devi Bhandari, Shyam Bashnet, Deepak Adhikari, Madhu Paoudel, Kripasoor Sherpa, Gyanendra Karki, Ram Krishna Tiwari, Raju Karki, Suresh Regmi, arjun Thapa, Kesav Raj Gautam and Dilla Raj Sharma. All these names have been gathered by Kantipur Online based on various sources, as CIAA has yet not named the officials under investigation.
The investigation is said to have begun in an extremely top-notch manner with police sealing off the houses of the government officials since 10 p.m. last night. Even the top investigating CIAA officials were only informed around 6 a.m. this morning and had broken out in groups of three with the lower level staff still unaware of what they were to face.
The entire operation was led by CIAA Chief Commissioner Upadhyay and conducted all at the same time in all the places and backed by police and army men in civil uniform. The CIAA move comes immediately days after the amended version of both the Corruption Control Act and CIAA Act received the Royal Seal.
The new provision has sharpened the "claw" of the anti-corruption tiger, CIAA, in investigating and confiscating property the accused government officials cannot reveal the source. Earlier, the CIAA could only launch an investigation only after obtaining solid proof that the accused official was indeed involved in corruption. Till then, most of the proof would have been already removed.
The CIAA move has also send strong signals to government officials in other departments that they could also be tried on corruption charges soon. However, many say that the "teeth" of the tiger is yet to be seen in the coming days as the accused officials are tried in Court and the country braces up for another round of political pressure ahead of the upcoming snap polls. (news compiled)
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Hope this time, CIAA will be able to take effective legal action against corrupted personals.
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