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Kathmandu Tuesday March 05, 2002 Falgun 21, 2058.
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Commission to
probe graft announced
Oppn leaders say it could go the Mallik way
By Surendra Phuyal & Yuvraj Acharya
KATHMANDU, March 4 : In what came as yet another landmark
decision, a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday has decided to form a judicial commission
that will probe the property of all the post 1990 high-ranking government officials
including political appointees, ministers, municipal mayors and deputy mayors and chiefs
of the district development committees and their families.
The meeting has decided to recommend His Majesty the King to
form the commission, and describe its terms of reference—duties, responsibilities and
rights—in accordance with the Chapter 3 (1) of the Probe Commission Act 2026 (1969),
the government spokesperson, Minister for Information and Communication Jay Prakash Gupta
told a press conference.
"The probe commission shall submit its report within six
months," Gupta said. "The decision is in line with the demand put forth by the
political parties during all party meets before the ratification of state of emergency (on
February 23)."
The Cabinet has recommended former Supreme Court justices
Uday Raj Upadhyay and Gaindra Bahadur Shrestha as members of the probe commission. His
Majesty the King shall appoint an officiating justice of the Supreme Court as the
commission chairman, in accordance with Article 92 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of
Nepal 1990.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders, lawyers and anti-corruption
lobbyists welcomed the government move, but expressed doubts that the judicial probe
commission report may not be implemented.
They referred to the similar probe commission reports of the
past like the Mallik Commission report, Public Sector Spending Overview Report, and
countless other reports and asserted that "it could very well meet with the same
fate".
The main opposition CPN-UML leader Subas Nemwang, who is also
the Chairman of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), told The Kathmandu
Post: " It is a positive step—something we have been demanding for years. But
the success of the commission depends largely on the government’s cooperation. The
government should ensure that the commission remains safe from political interference or
meddling. Or else it will meet with the same fate as that of the previous probe commission
reports."
Said Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani, Vice Chairman of the Rastriya
Prajatantra Party (RPP), the third largest political force in parliament: "It is too
early to comment. But the success of the commission depends on the terms of reference
given to it.
Senior lawyer Prakash Wasti, an anti-corruption advocate,
emphasized the need to empower the commission and enable its members to thoroughly probe
into the known, unknown sources of property of the former and incumbent authorities.
"What is important is not who heads the commission, but
the rights and mandates given to them. The terms of reference should enable them to
thoroughly probe the sources of property and even carry out raids," he said.
According to him, the main reason behind the failure of the
Mallik Commission was that it was not empowered to thoroughly probe the sources of
property and raid the houses of the authorities.
The Mallik Commission is the first in the series of post-1990
probe commission that were formed to probe the property supposedly illegally amassed by
high-ranking government officials and politicians.
The Commission was headed by Janardan Lal Mallik, a Supreme
Court justice. It did submit its report recommending legal action against at least 300
public office holders, who, the report said, were involved in various acts of corruption
during the autocratic Panchayat days. But no action was taken against them.
The other major probe commission reports currently gathering
dust in the officialdom are: Administrative Reforms Commission Report (submitted by Kul
Shekhar Sharma in 1991), Parliamentary Revenue Leakage Investigation Committee (submitted
by lawmaker Pari Thapa in 1999), Public Spending Overview Committee (submitted by lawmaker
Binay Dhoj Chand in 2001).
The National Peoples’ Front (NPF) lawmaker Pari Thapa
said Monday night: "There is no need to form any probe commission. We already have
enough commission reports gathering dust…If only the government would dare to
implement them."
Added the United People’s Front (UPF) lawmaker, Lilamani
Pokharel: "Nothing is going to happen unless the government looks back at the past
reports and implements them."
In the last 12 years time, that is since 1990, altogether 11
governments have ruled the nation, with 205 politicians occupying various ministerial
portfolios. During the period the Cabinet has been reshuffled for 30 times. And each
change in the government has brought about a similar change in the country’s
bureaucracy, public offices and corporations.
The target group
* The prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, ministers,
minister of states, assistant ministers, and their families,
* The chiefs of Legislative, Judiciary and Executive bodies
of the government, chiefs and deputy chiefs of the Constitutional bodies and their
families,
* The gazetted third class and seniors in the government
service, and their families,
* The heads, deputy heads and members of the executive boards
of public sector undertakings and government funded commissions, councils corporations,
authorities, centers and boards, and their families,
* The chairmen and vice chairmen of District Development
Committees, mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities, and their families
The political appointees posted at different institutions
funded by the government, and their families.
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