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November, 2003 |
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Interview |
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"Corrupts are now restless"
Surya Nath Upadhyay,
Chief Commissioner of the nation's all powerful anti-corruption body,
Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), shares
his evaluation of the anti-corruption drive going on in the country. How
do you rate the success of the CIAA in curbing corruption? Would you
mind sharing some figures, for example, about the ratio of the number of
cases won and lost by CIAA in the court? During
last three year's period CIAA brought hundreds of individuals and a
number of institutions tangibly involved in large-scale
misappropriations and corruption into the ambit of its investigation.
The final verdict in more than 80 percent of the cases the CIAA filed in
the Special Court, has upheld the initial indictment of the Commission.
This testifies to the mature investigation and equally result-oriented
pleading in the court of law by this constitutional body. The
Special Court during the period of F/Y 2059/60, has decided 55
corruption cases and CIAA has fully won 43 cases. It has partially won 4
cases and 7 cases were lost. One case was subjected to dismissal due to
the demise of the accused person. How
has the success rate improved after the 2002 revision in the CIAA law? If
you compare the facts and figures of the accomplishment of CIAA before
2002 and after 2002, you will conclude that the improvement has been far
more encouraging than it was expected during the drafting of the
amendments to the CIAA Act. Please refer to the table. What
is the latest situation regarding the revenue department staff arrested
last year by CIAA on the charge of amassing unaccounted wealth? A
total of 23 such officers were arrested last year. Out of them cases
under the charge of corruption have already been filed in the Special
Court against 20 of them. Remaining three officers succeeded to show and
prove their legal sources of income and were, therefore, relieved of the
charges. Recently
CIAA was criticized for interrogating Piyush Bahadur Amatya, the
businessman who owns the Fulbari, a resort hotel. How is your comment on
these reactions? One
very important point to note here is that we have never taken any action
targeting any particular party or individual. Anyone can allege any
thing trying to defame somebody the way they like. But we work on the
basis of the information we receive. It is not related with the question
of who belongs or does not belong to a particular party or a business
house. We take action exclusively on the basis of what transpires from
the records. Would
you mind explaining why CIAA has not interrogated the others (e.g.
existing or former officers/Board Directors of Nepal Bank Ltd. and Nepal
Rastra Bank) alleged in the same case together with Amatya? Any
kind of allegation requires sufficient evidence of the involvement of
the alleged person. Once such an involvement is established, no one is
immune from being interrogated by CIAA. The investigation process of the
mentioned case is still underway and whenever we feel the necessity, I
assure you, those people will be called for the interrogation. What
is CIAA doing about the other business houses that are alleged of
financial crimes almost similar to what Amatya has been alleged of? As
I have already said, we work on the basis of the information we receive
and the investigation is always based on records and evidences. CIAA
initiates an action on the basis of a complaint or a reporting after the
truthfulness of the complaint is assessed. In the case of Fulbari Resort
let me remind you that Nepal Bank Ltd. itself investigated the case
first and filed its report to us requesting actions against those who
were involved in the scandal. Persons
assigned in the past with anti-corruption drives in Nepal were
repeatedly complaining of threats on their personal security. How is the
situation these days? The
network, nexus and collective vested interest of the corrupts is quite
strong in our country where material gain is considered to be the source
of social prestige. Such nexus of the corrupts has now employed a
three-pronged strategy for defaming and demoralising the Commission.
First, the corrupts are verbally and literally alleging the CIAA being
politically biased, Second, certain people are malignantly indulged in
publishing exaggerated and baseless reports and, the third, there has
been well-planned efforts to file cases and make charges [against CIAA
officials] on the basis of redundant and not-so-well-founded
allegations. Although
such a situation exists, I personally do not feel that there is a threat
on our [CIAA officials] personal security. We are honestly trying our
best. Regardless of weekdays, hours and holidays, we are engaged in our
work. The Public will judge us from our commitment and dedication to the
cause. I, therefore, feel that there is no need to bother for our
personal security. The general mass of people is behind us to render the
support and security. Some
people have been questioning the logic of the present law that defines
as corruption even tips taken by the waiters of a restaurant of a hotel
in which the government owns merely 10% of the equity. Is not it an
unnecessary expansion of CIAA jurisdiction? Let
me clarify first that the jurisdiction of CIAA is well defined by the
Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990. We inquire only into a case
of corruption or improper conduct by a person holding a public position.
A waiter of a hotel, may not fall under the category of a public
officer, though it depends on various conditions. That is one aspect. At
the same time, the wisdom of the lawmaker cannot be made a matter of
debate. If we are really desirous of a corruption free society, think of
the momentum gained in corruption control efforts in recent years, after
the enactment of the law you have mentioned. If the results are
encouraging, we should stop criticizing it for minor technicalities.
After all, we are human beings. A commission composed of people with
proven track record and chosen by a high-powered constitutional
commission is not expected to act without regard to justice. Despite
being empowered so extensively by the present law, CIAA officers are
heard complaining of inadequate powers. Would you mind explaining? CIAA,
as compared to the situation before the enactment of new anti-corruption
acts, is far more empowered. At the same time, we should not forget that
nothing on earth could be ideal or perfect. As you go on rigorously
practicing new Acts, you may face their inadequacies. But I specifically
opine that new Acts are yet to be exercised sufficiently, therefore, it
is not yet time to say whether they are inadequate. What
would you name as the five most important problems in combating
corruption in Nepal? First,
Protection [enjoyed by] the corrupts; lack of accountability and
transparency in the service delivery system; third social prestige
for those who gain materially; fourth ineffective internal management
audit in concerned agencies; and fifth lack of reward and punishment
system. What
have been the major learnings from the experiences so far in combating
corruption in Nepal? In
my experience, corruption cannot be rooted out from this country by CIAA
efforts alone. Everyone who is in the position of responsibility in
particular as well as the entire civil society in general should also
strive for that. Second, in many a public institution, system is yet to
evolve. For example, records and documents are not in place and
sometimes they are not available at all. Third, the corrupts are
stronger than the institutions working for corruption control. They have
resources and means. They can buy people. Therefore, the fight against
them should be launched seriously and with firm determination. Lastly,
we need to evolve effective working procedures and practices in various
government offices. What
are the plans for improving the work of the commission in the future?
We
have formulated our strategy and the government too has recently
announced the measures to control corruption. I believe, if we develop a
system-based functioning pattern, irregularities, corruption and red-tapism,
can be controlled gradually, in due course. We have devised our own
strategy and spelt out our objectives. We have made five-year work plan,
of which one year has passed. Within remaining four years, we are
putting all our efforts to reduce corruption to the level where people
can feel that [corruption is reduced]. How
do you rate the human resource available with CIAA? Our
new strategic plan has worked out in detail the requirement of the
number of manpower to meet the workload of CIAA. It opted for a revised
organizational structure and very recently HMG/N has approved the new
organogram. This only guarantees the quantitative adequacy of the human
resources of this organization. But on the qualitative aspect, our
staffing is inadequate and almost untrained. Their investigative skill
is to be enhanced. We are launching various training programs for our
staff. Training the staff and enhancing the skill is a continuous
process and we have begun this process. How
do you find the general perception towards CIAA? I
request you to look into the positive side. Independent observers and
international community have not only appreciated the efforts made by
CIAA, but they have also extended the support in our campaign against
corruption. There are a number of friendly countries and organizations
that are helping us and many others are keenly interested to help us. I
would like to sincerely thank them for their interest, recognition of
our work and support extended to us. People's aspirations of seeing
Nepal as a corruption-free country have risen tremendously. The corrupts
are now restless. A message has been spread, even to the grass roots,
that the culprits cannot remain scot-free. These are definitely welcome
signs. Unfortunately, there is
so much of cynicism and negativism in our society that any thing that
you initiate with all good intentions is thwarted from its very start by
pointing out the darker side and by raising unfounded suspicions.
Pointing out the possible improvements is always helpful but a criticism
without a basis creates negative perception on something which is
honestly started. We as a nation should have confidence and feel that
there are ample opportunities to make our country a peaceful and
prosperous place. When I see people enjoying to call Nepal a failed
state I feel very sad. Whom should our motherland bank on if her own
children are bent on destroying it? It is unfortunate. Is not it? I am
an optimistic person and feel that we, and particularly those of us who
claim to belong to the enlightened mass, should feel the responsibility
and stop loosing our faith and confidence. |
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