Kathmandu, Sept 30: The head of Nepal’s high-level inquiry commission into the Gen-Z protests, Gauri Bahadur Karki, is facing growing scrutiny over his impartiality after his past social media posts resurfaced.
Karki, a former chair of the Special Court, was appointed earlier this month to lead investigations into the September 8–9 protests that toppled KP Sharma Oli’s government. But screenshots of his Facebook and X posts, in which he appeared to side with the protesters and openly criticized political leaders, have gone viral, raising doubts about whether he can conduct a fair probe.
Senior lawyers and professionals have voiced concern. Constitutional expert Dr. Bipin Adhikari said independence and neutrality are the foundation of justice, warning the commission risks being seen as a “detention body” rather than a truth-seeking panel if bias persists.
The interim government formed after the protests tasked Karki’s commission with investigating state suppression, arson, looting of police weapons, killings, and the mass jailbreak that freed over 10,000 inmates. Alongside Karki, the commission includes former AIG Bigyan Raj Sharma and legal scholar Bishweshwar Prasad Bhandari, and is expected to submit recommendations within three months.
Since beginning work on September 25, the commission has collected data on casualties and damage, and on September 28 recommended a travel ban on Oli, former home minister Ramesh Lekhak, and other senior officials under investigation. Critics described the move as political retribution.
The controversy deepened after users circulated Karki’s old posts. On September 9, during the peak of protests, he shared an editorial supporting the movement, praised youths demanding good governance, and wrote that leaders like Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal should be barred from leaving the country and investigated for “betraying the nation.”
He urged closure of airports and borders, branding leaders as “criminals” who should be jailed but not killed. Hours later, he declared on Facebook, “The Gen-Z movement has succeeded.”
Karki also criticized a Supreme Court decision upholding the appointment of 52 constitutional officials during Oli’s term, questioning its credibility amid the protests. He later applauded interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s initial cabinet picks.
With his past commentary now in the spotlight, many fear the commission’s findings will be tainted by questions of neutrality. Whether Karki can restore confidence in the inquiry will determine how the Gen-Z uprising is judged in Nepal’s political history.
–– People’s News Monitoring Service
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