By Narayan Prasad Mishra
Anyone—an individual, group, or political party—who uses knowledge and wisdom to accomplish or obtain something right and should never adopt a wrong or unjust path or method. This is what our religious scriptures teach us. In other words, the path to achieving a just demand must also be just. Only then can the result be just and pure. Otherwise, its outcome will also be unjust and impure. It will be unacceptable and harmful.
Whatever the circumstances, and however good the teachings of our religious scriptures may be, when we examine Nepal’s political history, we do not find that this principle or teaching has been followed in our country. No matter how good the objectives and intentions of political rebellions and movements in Nepal may have been, there is little basis to say the political methods they adopted were right. There is no need to say much about the killings, oppression, abductions, looting, intimidation, physical mutilation, guns, bombs, and gunfire during the Maoist movement. The arson, attacks, looting, and even destruction of national property during the latest movement known as the Gen-Z movement also make the same point. In the movements before the Gen-Z movement, the political parties and groups involved were clear. Therefore, the parties and groups that adopted unjust means to achieve just demands were identifiable. The parties and groups responsible for destruction were also identifiable.
But the group behind the Gen-Z movement is unclear. It is like air and smoke—visible yet invisible, known yet unknown. It is difficult to identify exactly who was behind it. It is also mysterious. How could such destruction and devastation have been carried out across the country within just a few hours, apparently without any prior indication or warning? What force, and whose strength, made it possible? These questions are difficult to answer satisfactorily. Although it can clearly be said that it was a movement and rebellion of oppressed and victimized people against misgovernance, corruption, and their oppressors, its male and female leaders cannot be identified. This is beyond my limited understanding. Nor does it appear that participants in this rebellion came forward intending to seize power.
Meanwhile, the interim government that emerged held elections in the country. The Rastriya Swatantra Party entered the election promising to end corruption and establish good governance. Because this party had not yet acquired the indelible stain of corruption and misgovernance associated with other parties, people gave it a large number of votes. They elected it in the last general election. As a result, this party is now in government. Today, our country is governed under the honorable leadership of Prime Minister Balendra Shah, the party’s leader. This government is responsible for rapidly developing the country and promoting the people’s welfare. Above all, it is responsible for ending corruption, establishing good governance, and delivering justice to the people. This government carries enormous responsibilities. It also appears to be moving rapidly in this direction, which is commendable.
However great the wishes and aspirations of the people may be, all responsibilities cannot be fulfilled at once by some magic. Therefore, the government has countless tasks to undertake as priorities. Among them, one important priority is providing justice to cooperative victims cheated not merely by thieves, robbers, and fraudsters, but by great fraudsters who operated as cooperative managers in disguise. These people became victims largely because of the misgovernance, disorder, and inaction of previous governments. Nearly one-thirds of the country’s population is affected by the cooperative crisis. The present Balen government has not ignored this issue either.
Nevertheless, given Nepal’s existing laws, rules, procedures, systems, administrative structures, insensitive justice system, the web of corruption and manipulation, corrupt politics, and various other factors, the current pace and manner of handling the issue do not give much hope that ordinary attention and action will provide justice within the lifetime of the people involved to the victims of approximately 3,000–3,500 cooperative institutions and the 7–7.5 million people said to have been affected. What is needed is not merely attention, but special attention; not merely ordinary implementation, but special implementation involving many agencies and offices; a special judicial system; and an administrative mechanism capable of implementing decisions quickly and without delay. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that cooperative victims will receive the money they deposited in cooperative institutions, believing them to be like banks, within their lifetime.
A vivid example is the problem faced by the depositors of Civil Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited, operated by Ichchha Raj Tamang, a former Member of Parliament from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), who was a person of considerable status, prestige, state power, political influence, financial power, and educational standing—in other words, a person possessing virtually every kind of power. The cooperative was located at Kalimati–Soltimode.
He built, operated, rented, owned, and sold major buildings in the heart of Kathmandu, in the Dharahara area, including the attractive CTC Mall, Civil Mall, and Dharahara Apartment, as well as hundreds of housing units and bungalow-style houses spread over hundreds of ropanis of land elsewhere. Trusting his social influence, reputation, pleasant manner of speaking, and reliable assurances, thousands upon thousands of people, both poor and wealthy, opened savings and fixed-deposit accounts in his cooperative and deposited billions of rupees. But he used and invested this money wherever he wished, for whatever purposes he desired, and spent, consumed, and hid it as he pleased, ultimately showing that the cooperative lacked sufficient funds. From 2075/76 B.S. onward, he began delaying and eventually stopped paying principal and interest to savings and fixed-deposit account holders. Because of complaints from account holders and investigations by the CIB (Central Bureau of Investigation of the Nepal Government), he was imprisoned on Oct 4, 2021 (BS 2078/6/18). He remains in prison to this day.
Account holders have receipts and other proof showing they had accounts and deposited money in his cooperative. The cooperative itself has records of these deposits. Ordinarily, it should not be necessary for people to file lawsuits, go to courts and government offices, or seek lawyers simply to recover money they themselves deposited. Ordinary people cannot even understand why such a process should be necessary. Yet the depositors of Civil Cooperative were pushed into a legal process requiring them to go from the District Court all the way to the Supreme Court. Because they were told that even to recover their own hard-earned money they had to obtain court verification and an order, the account holders filed cases against Ichchha Raj and have been going from court to court since 2021 (2078 B.S.)
Everyone knows the Nepali saying that before a court, a person’s tears of suffering are no more valuable than the tears of a buffalo before a butcher. It is also said that a lawsuit has nine horns, while a judge has countless horns. It means any party — victims or fraudsters can win the case. It depends on the judge’s morality, conscience, dignity, and knowledge. Their many horns can easily push the case in any direction.
After lengthy procedures—collecting evidence, recording statements from numerous people, serving notices, issuing information, scheduling hearings, postponing hearings, setting dates, requiring appearances, and so on—the case was finally decided by the High Court, Patan, on November 11, 2022 (2079/ 7 /25). The High Court in Patan ordered Ichchha Raj to return the depositors’ money within nine months. Ichchha Raj then continued filing one petition and case after another, telling stories of lies, deception, and manipulation, and claiming he had no responsibility to return the money. Though he remained in jail, the case continued.
The Kathmandu District Court’s decision on August 29, 2026 (2083 Bhadra 13, B.S.) found Ichchha Raj and 16 others guilty of fraud. But it remains unclear how many more years the case will remain entangled in the High Court, Supreme Court, and other courts. Most likely, they will go to the higher courts with false documents until they can, according to law and procedure. The longer the delay, the greater the benefit to Ichchha Raj. He gets to keep billions of rupees belonging to the depositors without paying interest, while the value of his houses, land, and investments continues to rise. What a benefit! Thus, the 7–8 billion rupees deposited by the account holders in Ichchha Raj’s cooperative have remained tied up in litigation, with neither principal nor interest returned.
With Nepal’s justice system moving at a tortoise’s pace, and its governance entangled in disorder, corruption, irregularities, delays, pressure, and influence, no one can say how many years—or even a lifetime—it will take to resolve this case. On the other hand, many account holders who are sick, ill, disabled, elderly, and without other sources of income or financial support do not even have enough money for medical treatment or daily food. Some are spending their final days shedding tears because of this unbearable suffering and pain. This is deeply distressing and painful.
Therefore, the government must make special arrangements to complete this work, as well as the cases involving other cooperatives, as quickly as possible and provide speedy justice to cooperative victims and depositors. Otherwise, the promise of justice will remain limited to words, not action.
1. For this purpose, the government and the judiciary should recognize that cases involving nearly 7.5 million cooperative victims are not the same as ordinary cases involving other individuals, groups, or institutions. The government and the judiciary should coordinate so that cooperative cases can be prioritized and decided through a rapid, expedited process. Everyone should also understand that this is not intended to pressure or influence the judicial system, but only to draw attention to the matter in the interest of fairness and common sense.
2. Similarly, there should be a special and accelerated mechanism for identifying the assets, property, wealth, cash, goods, houses, land, shares, and other possessions of those responsible for harming cooperative depositors—that is, the cooperative operators—and for selling such assets through auction and returning the money to the account holders.
3. Third, when returning the money, it is extremely important to give priority to sick, disabled, and older people.
I hope that the present government will pay attention to this matter. Otherwise, providing justice to cooperative victims will be like saying, “The fruit is in the sky, and one dies while trying to reach it.” It may also become like giving medicine after the patient has died. I hope everyone concerned will give this matter the attention and consideration it deserves.
About the author: A non-partisan writer of several books and numerous articles in Nepali and English; former Chief of the Office of the Tribhuvan University Service Commission, Nepal; and a senior citizen in his mid-eighties.
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