CIAA claims Rs 185.8 million from Madhav Kumar Nepal
KATHMANDU, June 5: A corruption case has been filed against former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a constitutional body established to investigate and prosecute corruption-related offenses, filed the case at the Special Court on Thursday.
CIAA files corruption charges against 13 in a single day
The case is related to the exemption of land ceiling limits in the Patanjali land case in Kavrepalanchok. After an investigation, the CIAA filed charges against a total of 93 individuals, including former Prime Minister Nepal. It is stated that a compensation claim of Rs 185.8 million has been made against Nepal in this case. However, the full details of the findings from the CIAA’s investigation, including the extent of Nepal's offense and involvement, have not yet been made public.
With this, Nepal becomes the first former prime minister to be implicated in a corruption case filed by the CIAA. It is worth noting that in 2061 BS, during the direct rule of then-King Gyanendra Shah, the Royal Commission for Corruption Control had filed a case against former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. However, after the restoration of democracy, the commission itself was dissolved, and the politically motivated cases it had filed were also dismissed.
The CIAA has remained a constitutional body responsible for tackling corruption. Until now, the CIAA has mostly filed cases against individuals holding positions up to the level of ministers.
Because of this, the CIAA has often faced criticism for targeting only lower-level officials. In this context, the case against former Prime Minister Nepal marks a significant shift, as he is one of the highest-ranking figures to be prosecuted. However, it remains to be seen how free from controversy this prosecution will be — only time will tell.
