• National
  • Politics
  • Valley
  • Opinion
  • Money
  • Sports
  • Culture & Lifestyle

  • National
    • Madhesh Province
    • Lumbini Province
    • Bagmati Province
    • National Security
    • Koshi Province
    • Gandaki Province
    • Karnali Province
    • Sudurpaschim Province
  • Politics
  • Valley
    • Kathmandu
    • Lalitpur
    • Bhaktapur
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • As it is
    • Letters
    • Editorial
    • Cartoon
  • Money
  • Sports
    • Cricket
    • Football
    • International Sports
  • Culture & Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Brunch with the Post
    • Movies
    • Life & Style
    • Theater
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Fashion
  • Health
  • Food
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Investigations
  • Climate & Environment
  • World
  • Science & Technology
  • Interviews
  • Visual Stories
  • Crosswords & Sudoku
  • Horoscope
  • Forex
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Today's ePaper
Sunday, July 27, 2025

Without Fear or FavourUNWIND IN STYLE

23.24°C Kathmandu
Air Quality in Kathmandu: 57
300+Hazardous
0-50Good
51-100Moderate
101-150Unhealty for Sensitive Groups
151-200Unhealthy
201-300Very Unhealthy
Sun, Jul 27, 2025
23.24°C Kathmandu
Air Quality in Kathmandu: 57
  • What's News :

  • Ruling parties divided
  • Ex-President Bhandari
  • Confidence through sports
  • Book review
  • Actors and their roles
  • FDI 5% increase

Editorial

Of deceits and erasures

The sooner the finance minister exits the government, the better for the nation. Of deceits and erasures
 Post File Photo
bookmark
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • Whatsapp
  • mail
Published at : July 5, 2022
Updated at : July 6, 2022 06:30

Data erased from hard disks is retrievable. But how does a tainted leader retrieve his image from people's memory?

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, in courting one controversy after another, has tainted his image enough already to be ineligible to lead the Ministry of Finance. He is reported to have brought two unauthorised persons into the offices of the Ministry of Finance to change the tax regime on the night of May 28, a day before the announcement of the next fiscal year's budget. If proven to be true, it is a clear case of financial crime that the finance minister has been directly involved in. And so it needs a thorough investigation. What is alarming is that even as calls for a probe into the finance minister's involvement in a potential case of financial crime grow louder, he has tried to mislead the citizens with yet another deceit. And in doing so, he has exposed himself even more as someone who can go to any length towards deceiving the nation if that serves his interests.

The Ministry of Finance is legally bound to keep closed circuit television footage for three months. The guideline related to CCTV installation, prepared by the Home Ministry, mandates that the videos captured by the devices should be kept secure for three months. But when asked about it, the Finance Ministry crossed the limits of absurdity when it said that the footage captured by its devices gets deleted in a mere 13 days for lack of space, claiming that the footage that would be essential in establishing the veracity of the charges against him has been deleted. This is a sign of the utter irresponsibility and sense of entitlement with which the finance minister operates.

The way the finance minister has responded, with obfuscations and lies, there is ample room to question his credibility and legitimacy to continue further as a minister. In fact, Sharma has already lost his credibility—by failing to get the economy any closer to recovery, by attempting, without success, to remove central bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari for no logical reason, and by allegedly committing a financial crime followed by illegally erasing vital evidence of his wrongdoing.

Sharma has brought shame to the Ministry of Finance, so Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should not shy away from removing the finance minister who is clearly lying through his teeth. As the leader of a coalition government that was formed to buttress democracy, Deuba should not be a party to Sharma's manoeuvres. Nor should Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the leader of Sharma's party, the CPN (Maoist Centre), and the leaders of the coalition government. Moreover, it is morally bound to keep that vital information for the benefit of citizens. They are entitled to such information as taxpayers of this nation, and as the people who voted the likes of Sharma to power. If Deuba and his coalition partners still believe in law, they should come forward and conduct an impartial probe into the allegations against Sharma. As for Sharma, the sooner he heads for the exit door, the better—for the nation, not least the Ministry of Finance, which has seen nothing but controversy during his tenure.


Read Other Opinions

Going wrong on rights
Old fox wins again
Year of broken promises
‘Tuin’ terror
Murky business
Hold the line

Most Read from Editorial

Inhumane tradition
Old fox wins again
Uncaring, unpopular
Maze of scandals
Going wrong on rights

Editor's Picks

Kailash pilgrims breathe new life into Nepal’s mountain economy
Pressure groups are dictating lawmaking
Indians paying by QR in Nepal for a year but Nepalis still lack access in India
UML weighs binning age, term limits amid Oli-Bhandari rivalry
Law in the works to check officials’ conflict of interest

E-PAPER | July 27, 2025

  • Read ePaper Online
×
ABOUT US
  • About the Post
  • Masthead
  • Editorial Standards & Integrity
  • Workplace Harassment Policy
  • Privacy Policy
READ US
  • Home Delivery
  • ePaper
CONTACT US
  • Write for the Post
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Advertise in the Post
  • Work for the Post
  • Send us a tip
INTERACT WITH US
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
OUR SISTER PUBLICATIONS
  • eKantipur
  • saptahik
  • Nepal
  • Nari
  • Radio Kantipur
  • Kantipur TV
© 2025 www.kathmandupost.com
  • Privacy Policy
Top