By Purushottam P. Khatri

Kathmandu, Nov. 4: Presenting counterfeit academic certificates for getting recruitment or promotion in Nepal Police has shown no sign of abating.
If the record of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is anything to go by, over 300 Nepal Police personnel, including some senior officers, have faced legal action over the past five years for presenting counterfeit academic certificates for getting appointment and promotion.
Although the cases of fake certificates in Nepal Police in the recent years have been on a decreasing trend, the CIAA is still registering the cases following the complaints by analysing the documents belonging to the erring police personnel, Pradeep Kumar Koirala, spokesperson at CIAA, told The Rising Nepal. The CIAA registered a total of 88 cases for presenting counterfeit academic certificates in the fiscal year 2018/19, of which 19 were of Nepal Police, 39 of the government school teachers, the highest number.
Also, in the last three months of the current fiscal year, eight fake certificate cases were registered at the CIAA, and of them, four were related to Nepal Police personnel, Koirala said. Leaving just two top-notch officers, SSP and Dr. Maheshman Pradhan of Nepal Police Hospital and DSP Balkrishna Thapa, majority of the fake certificate producing staff members include junior level privates to sub-inspectors.
According to information officer and deputy registrar at the Special Court Indra Kumar Khadka, the cases of DSP Balkrishna Thapa is under sub-judice for past six years and he was suspended from the service since the case was registered in 2013. The CIAA has not received complaint regarding fake academic certificates in the Armed Police Force and the National Investigation Department.
The matters related to investigation of the cases of fake certificates, however, in Nepali Army doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the CIAA. Nepali Army has its own mechanism of forming a court of inquiry in every illegal practice to look into such cases.
Deputy Registrar Khadka said that the Special Court cleared 92 cases out of total 147 registered cases of fake certificates during the fiscal year 2018/19.
At present, hearing over 55 cases is going on at the court during the current fiscal year, Khadka said. According to him, as of November 2, 2019, out of 55 sub-judice cases, the court cleared 12 cases of fake certificates within three months.

CIAA Spokesperson Koirala said that during their investigationthey found that majority of the fake certificates were brought from various universities and colleges of Uttar Pradesh of India and a few from within the country.
Some certificates were also found issued illegally having stamps and letter pads and signature of Tribhuvan University and other private colleges.
In August 2010, Nepal Police had even launched 'Operation Hunt' to nab illegal fake certificate manufacturers from the market and began an investigation inside the police force. According to a police officer at the Police Headquarters,
the forged Nepali academic certificates of various colleges and universities can also be found in the market at around Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000.
Hemanta Malla, a retired DIG of Nepal Police, said that the Police Headquarters required another level of operation to investigate into the fake certificates to make the institution free from this stain.
According to deputy registrar Khadka, the persons proven guilty in such cases by the court would face a maximum of six months jail term and a fine of Rs. 10,000 and dismissal from their service.