Category: Breaking 1

By Our Reporter

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is now facing a crisis to save the coalition government in just three months after he shifted his coalition partners.

While Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane is under constant attack from the main opposition party for his alleged involvement in the cooperative frauds, the CPN-UML, the key coalition parties in his government, has also targeted the government over the budget allocation.

Even within his party (Maoist Centre), a faction led by Janardan Sharma is said to have challenged PM Dahal. It was rumoured that Dahal had been threatened of breaking the Maoist Centre.

Moreover, PM Dahal is under constant pressure from CPN-UML chairman KP Oli as Oli has the upper hand in the everyday state administration, which has irked PM Dahal.

While addressing the meeting of the House of Representatives on Thursday last week, PM Dahal realised how he was undermined by the leaders of the political parties. It is all because of his untrusting political behaviour.

PM Dahal was in the House on Thursday to furnish answers to the queries of the lawmakers and apprise the House of the President’s Europe tour and his India visit. But he was displeased when he saw senior leaders of almost all parties including KP Oli of the CPN-UML, Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC, Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN (Unified Socialist) Rajendra Lingden of the RPP, Mahantha Thakur of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Upendra Yadav of the Janata Samjwadi Party Nepal, Deputy Prime Ministers Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Raghubir Mahaseth and other ministers were not present in the House to listen to him.  Deuba left the House before Dahal was to address it while others did not attend the meeting that day.

Expressing his displeasure, the Prime Minister said, “No matter what the tradition, practice and dignity of our House are, the day the Prime Minister speaks, all the leaders of the ruling party, the opposition, all the honourable members, ministers, all present except for emergencies, it was established in the history of Nepal. But now it is gradually waning. This certainly does not mean that we have devalued such and such a prime minister. If this process continues, we are considered to have devalued ourselves,” he said.

The scene of the House on Thursday last week reminded the PM of how weak he was and how the party leaders were undermining him. Party bosses of key parties and senior leaders did not think it necessary to attend the meeting which was to be addressed by the PM. Only Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Rabi Lamichhane was among the party chiefs to listen to the PM and the party chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre).

The PM must have realised that he has become the weakest PM in Nepal’s history this time.

By Our Reporter

Dr. Baikuntha Aryal has become the first sitting Chief Secretary to face a corruption charge and get suspended.

After the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a charge sheet at the Special Court on Sunday, he was automatically suspended from his position.

Earlier, no sitting chief secretary had faced a similar corruption charge.

The CIAA filed a corruption charge against Aryal and nine other civil servants for their alleged involvement in corruption relating to the printing of stickers of excise duty.

The case shows how the corrupt civil servants in Nepal mange to reach the top post.

Aryal was charge-sheeted for his corrupt activities which he committed while serving as secretary at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. However, two former ministers—Gyandnedra Bahadur Karki and Mohan Bahadur Basnet were not charge sheeted although the two were also involved in the same scam. This shows how the big fishes could easily avoid the CIAA nets.

Even after CIAA filed the case, the government tried to save Aryal, because he was appointed to the top post by the political leadership probably because of his skills to supply them with money.   It is evident from the fact that the government transferred him to the National Planning Commission by creating a new post suitable to his position on Monday. Obviously, there was no need to transfer and depute a suspended chief secretary.  It serves as an example to show how political leaders in Nepal award corrupt persons.

Aryal was appointed Chief Secretary of the government of Nepal in a dramatic development on June 15, 2023, just two days before he was to retire from the post of secretary, by making the then-sitting Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi resign. Bairagi was later appointed National Security Advisor by creating a new post. It was said that Aryal was appointed Chief Secretary in the backing of Arzoo Rana, spouse of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba.

But a year after assuming the highest position in Civil Service, Aryal was automatically suspended on Sunday after the CIAA filed a corruption case against him.

Others who faced the corruption case with Dr. Aryal are the then Director General Ritesh Kumar Shakya of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD),  the then Deputy Director General Tanka Prasad Pandey, the then Director Ganesh Bikram Shahi and the then Section Officer Rabindra Prasad Paudyal. Likewise, the case was filed against the then Executive Director Bikal Paudel of Security Printing Centre (SPC), National Information Technology Centre’s then Director Safal Shrestha, SPC’s then Purchase Expert Shakti Prasad Shrestha, SPC’s the then Section Officer Hari Ballav Ghimire, SPC’s the then Account Officer Bishnu Prasad Gautam and Print Cell Pvt. Ltd. and its Director Keshav Sharma.

According to the CIAA, the defendants proceeded with the purchase of stickers of excise duty contrary to the performance agreement between the Secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (first party) and the executive director of the Security Printing Centre (second party), allocated budget,

Instead of working in accordance with rule 33 of the Financial Procedures and Financial Responsibility Regulations-2020, the defendants, including Dr, Aryal, had proceeded with the process of purchasing excise duty stickers through a private company and had taken 20 per cent advance (Rs. 68,445,600) from the company.

The CIAA informed that the whole process had caused a loss of Rs. 386.71 million to the government.

The CIAA has demanded that the advance payment of Rs. 68,445,600 be recovered from each of the defendants including Aryal.

Likewise, the CIAA demanded that each of the 11 defendants should pay the claimed property of Rs. 386.71 million and an equal amount of fine.