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Kathmandu Friday October 05, 2001 Ashwin 19, 2058.
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Why hue and cry ?
This is in response to your editorial
entitled "CIAA bill" (October 3, 2001). I fully agree with TKP’s view that,
although judiciary of any country has always been considered an independent entity, there
are certain constitutional provisions for prosecuting the corrupt judges. Even if such
constitutional provisions do exist, we may need to meet the deficiency through new
legislation within the existing constitutional framework. The new amendment bill on CIAA
that was submitted to Parliament for deliberations and voting has attracted attention of
many. I am not convinced with the view that empowerment of CIAA to investigate and
prosecute the cases of abuse of authority by judges undermines independence of the
judiciary. I think there are three important things to be considered.
First, the present Constitution of Nepal has
enabled the CIAA to carry out investigation and prosecution in the cases of abuse of
authority (involving both corruption and immoral conduct) by those persons who hold public
positions. It is but natural to expect the judges to be in the list of public position
holders.
Second, the Constitution has well conceived
some institutions, including courts and CIAA, as special ones, each having unique
authority and jurisdiction. The empowerment of CIAA to investigate the cases of abuse of
authority by the judges will not contradict the constitutional spirit, as it does not mean
empowering it to make judiciary decision.
Third, the investigation findings of the CIAA
may also help parliamentarians by providing a basis for making or rejecting the proposal
of impeachment of judges. The court (or judiciary council) itself will need investigation
from an independent agency like CIAA for making judiciary decisions on the reported
corruption cases of the judges.
One should never feel inferior if the other
is exercising a legitimate authority. Should the judges feel that their independence has
been undermined when they are interrogated or stopped by traffic police on the roads? Can
they follow their own traffic rules and check themselves on the roads?
Dr Dinesh Pant
Bishalnagar, Kathmandu |
