Special Court Verdict Reason To Be Hopeful By Ambar Mainali, The corruption bug must now be finding a place to hide. So far, it had been biting people relentlessly encouraging them to make hay while the sun was shining. The historic verdict of the Special Court last Thursday that convicted former minister Chiranjibi Wagle of corruption must be giving sleepless nights to many other wily politicians. The verdict against Wagle has sparked hopes among the people that they would soon see a series of similar verdicts aimed at booking the corrupt. Arrest The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had arrested Wagle few weeks after His Majesty the King dissolved the government on October 4, 2002 citing reasons of ineptness of then government to hold the elections. The CIAA had raided the houses of former Nepali Congress ministers Wagle, Khum Bahadur Khadka and J.P Gupta after it was tipped off that the ministers had accumulated movable and immovable assets, the sources of which weren t clear. Prior to this, the CIAA had raided the houses of 22 officials working at the Revenue Investigation Department to evaluate their assets. Later the Ministers and other top government officials were released on bail while the Special Court continued to probe into the cases. The raid had come a few days after the Commission was empowered though the passage of an anti-graft bill from the parliament that turned into law after receiving the Royal assent. The assets of those raided, which were disclosed to the public perplexed the common Nepalese who then inferred that the number of nouveau riche in the country had grown manifold within the span of the last two decades. To the surprise of many innocent Nepalese, ministers with a below average financial condition turned into multi-multimillionaires. Tales of corruption made rounds in the social circles but failed to be proved. After the state of corruption started worsening, the Mallik Commission was formed. Though it was formed primarily to investigate into the atrocities perpetrated during the popular movement, it was also mandated to look into the corruption allegedly carried out by the then rulers, popularly known as Panchas . The report of the commission was never implemented for reasons unknown, which encouraged politicians to amass wealth by abusing their power. Corruption was carried out in an unabated manner; not different from the pre-democratic era turning poor politicians into the nouveau riche. Surprisingly the majority government headed by Girija Prasad Koirala after the first general elections in 1991did not make any move to empower the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The Communist party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), which was in the opposition too did not show any eagerness to push the ruling Congress for a bill that would empower the CIAA. The repercussion was that politicians from different parties abused their power for personal gains. After things started to go beyond control, a judicial commission was formed to look into the assets of government office bearers serving in all capacities after the restoration of multiparty democracy. The three member Commission formed two years back was headed by sitting justice of Supreme Court Bhairab Prasad Lamsal. The Lamsal Commission did a wonderful job, which could be ascribed as exemplary, as it prepared the groundwork to file cases against people whose assets were unrealistic compared to their earning sources. The report after being presented to His Majesty the King was then forwarded to CIAA, which started the investigation to file lawsuits against the accused at the Special Court chaired by Tap Bahadur Magar with judges Govinda Prasad Parajuli and Bhoopa Dhoj Adhikari as the other members of the bench. For those who were unaware about the legal provisions, the release of the indicted on bail came as a surprise. But the legal provisions were followed strictly until the investigations and hearings came to a decisive end. Ramagya Chaturbedi, ex-chairman of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation 2 years jail, Rs 19.7mfine for Chaturbedi POST REPORT KATHMANDU, Jan 21 - The Special Court on Friday slapped a two-year prison term, along with a fine of 19.79 million rupees on Ramagya Chaturbedi, ex-chairman of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation and National Construction Company (NCC), for illegally amassing property while in those posts. In its judgement, the anti-graft tribunal has also ordered confiscation of all his illegal property. Besides, the court declared that Chaturbedi has stashed away about 11 million rupees, which was once deposited in two Indian banks – State Bank of India and United Bank of India – and was withdrawn later. The court has ordered deduction of the amount from his legal property and confiscation of the same.According to the court’s evaluation, Chaturbedi now owns property worth over Rs 25 million, legal property being only 6.7 million rupees. His illegally earned property stands at 19.79 million rupees.The court also said that illegall property in the form of land, shares in a hospital and medical college, and bank deposits are owned by Chaturbedi himself, his wife Asha, son Ritesh and daughter Aditi. The court handed down the judgement in response to a case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on February 13, 2003. The constitutional anti-graft watchdog had accused Chaturbedi of illegally amassing Rs 70 million rupees while serving in the posts in RNAC and NCC. He was a political appointee. The CIAA had sought five years imprisonment for Chaturbedi in the charge sheet filed at the court. Wagle has challenged the verdict but it is unlikely that the proof against him to be submitted to the Supreme Court will allow him to come out clean. The historical verdict looks like only the beginning of the crusade against corruption. Going by experiences from the neighbouring countries, corruption cannot be stemmed unless those who are in the top posts are booked for their misdoing. The verdict also has send fillers to other politicians in power that they will not be spared if they abuse their power in office to pocket resources that are supposed to go into the country s development. The CIAA following its empowerment through the passage of a bill from the parliament after nearly ten years of democratic exercise must be appreciated for all that it has done to bring the culprits to book. The government must work towards introducing laws that would empower other key bodies like the Election Commission to control the resource spending during elections. Though the ceiling has been fixed in the regulations, the hands of the Commission are tied, as it is still not in the condition to initiate steps and take action against contestants, who violate the set ceiling as regards election expenses. The basis of being elected to high office in Nepal is money and muscle rather than popularity and past track records. When politicians who spend whooping millions into election campaigns are elected they are tempted to make up for the loss through unscrupulous practices. The government recently has done a commendable job by putting a complaint box at Singh Durbar, where people can file complaints if they are exploited by civil servants. This step too would augur well to some extent to curtail corruption in different government offices. Commitment A corruption free society is always the rallying point for a functioning democracy. Hence efforts must be geared from all quarters public and private to stop the corrupt from going scot-free. Given the political commitment, the people can rest assured that the days ahead will be free from corrupt practices. The recent political development in the country that has culminated into the formation of an all-party government headed by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is the opportune moment to work in the direction of stemming corruption from the root. Former IGP Achyut Krishna Kharel Former IGP Pradeep Shumsher Rana Former IGP Motilal Bohara Ex-IGP Bohora in judicial custody over graft charges By A Staff Reporter, KATHMANDU, Sept. 29: Former Inspector General of Police Motilal Bohara was ordered by the Special Court to be kept on judicial custody as the hearing of explanation from the former Inspector General of Police on charge of corruption did not end Wednesday. Bohara is one of the three former IGPs, charged by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for corruption. The CIAA had filed cases them at the Special Court more than a month ago. Bohara has been kept under judicial custody at the ward police office Singha Durbar until the finalisation of the case. Bohara had presented himself before the Special Court on Tuesday. Former IGP Achyut Krishna Kharel had presented to the court last week, but another IGP Pradeep Shumsher Rana has still not contacted the court.