CIAA’s Anti-graft Crusade

Good governance, transparency and the rule of law make the hallmark of a democratic polity. When these essential components of the system become weak, the system can develop public disenchantment leading to unrest and uncertainty. Democracy allows freedom, liberty and unlimited opportunities for development in all sectors but there are also immoral elements in the society that try to take undue advantage of liberal traits of the system. Such a dark potential calls for vigilant legal mechanism to ensure accountability in the people in authority. State apparatuses function with mandated political and bureaucratic authority and power. But people with corrupt tendencies try to explore leeway and loopholes for authority abuse, fund misuse, bribery, bad influence and embezzlements. All these corrupt conducts amount to crime. They need to be punished under the law of the land no matter how strong the political protection behind such activities. 

Nepal is striving to curb corruption under the prevailing constitutional and legal framework but the complaints against practice of irregularities and misuse of power continue to hit media headlines. According to the Corruption Perception Index 2022 released by Transparency International, Nepal ranks in the 110th position of the least corrupt nation out of 180 countries of the world. This shows that the country has a long way to go to fight this moral menace. Zero tolerance approach with legal clarity and stringent punitive measures are needed to crack down on corruption. But nothing substantial can happen in this direction unless there is adequate willpower at the highest political level. 

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is a constitutionally mandated authority to conduct investigation and file charge sheets in the court of law against officials accused of corruption, irregularities and misappropriation of public funds. The commission has, of late, notably intensified its crusade on its fundamental responsibility of corruption prevention. Its role is paramount in ensuring good governance and instilling accountability in the people who are working in public posts of the state. The hardest part of the job to be performed by the commission should be to probe and book those culprits who enjoy the unholy nexus with the power that be and enjoy their protection. For effective work, this constitutional body needs to be provided with autonomy, independence and legal power.  It should be free from all kinds of political pressure, threats and influence to carry outs its appointed duty. 

A limitation about the jurisdiction of CIAA is that it cannot initiate a probe in absence of a complaint. There might be a possibility that a complaint is silenced because of which a corruption case goes unreported and unprosecuted. It should also make a difference between a false allegation and genuine plea for investigation and action. In its latest move, the CIAA filed corruption cases at the Special Court against nine persons involving hefty misappropriated amount of 750 million rupees. The irregularities happened in the procurement process of security printing machine and associated equipment and accessories. The accused officials including Executive Director of the Security Printing Centre Bikal Paudel have been charged with misappropriating the public fund in gross violation of the Public Procurement Act. The officials, accountants, suppliers and consultants involved in the procurement process had stated unreasonable price estimates, procured substandard electric transformer, purchased generator from the country other than stated in the agreement and making over payment of advance money to the supplier.