People witnessed dramatic scenes at Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Thursday as tensions erupted over the return of suspended Chief Administrative Officer Saroj Guragain.

Mayor Balendra Shah had suspended Guragain on December 23, citing financial irregularities in the approval of the Kathmandu Tower construction blueprint at the Old Bus Park, Ratnapark.

Mayor Shah was, therefore, firmly against allowing Guragain to resume work on Thursday. He had deployed municipal police to stop him. Although the city police did try to stop Guragain from entering the office, their attempts failed.

Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol, who won the post as a candidate from the CPN-UML, stood in Guragain’s support during the tense standoff and helped him in signing the attendance register. Several ward chairpersons and municipal staff rallied behind Dangol and Guragain. Their support was understandable as KMC employees and elected representatives have not received their salaries for three months due to the absence of the chief executive officer, who holds the financial authority.

“With the chief administrative officer attending, we believe the withheld salaries of KMC employees will now be released,” said KMC spokesperson Nabin Mahandhar, who is also the chairperson of ward 17.

At one point, despite Deputy Mayor Dangol’s intervention, Municipal Police chief Rajunath Pandey still tried to prevent Guragain from assuming office.

Guragain’s chamber was locked. Staff members even considered breaking the padlock. Eventually, after much contention, the keys were handed over, as confirmed by KMC spokesperson Manandhar.

Some glasses used in the windows, false ceiling and other goods were broken during the tussle between those who escorted Guragain to his office and those trying to bar him.

On the face of Dangol’s persistent stance in Guragain’s favour, Pandey hesitated from further escalating the situation and ultimately allowed Guragain to assume office.

In the first week of March, after Guragain was barred from entering his office, Dangol had led an informal meeting with ward chairpersons and municipal staff to discuss the matter.

During the meeting, Dangol criticised Mayor Shah saying that despite personal disagreements, elected representatives must remain committed to serving the public, according to a KMC staffer.

Expressing her frustration, Dangol had urged Mayor Shah not to issue directives from his office without consulting others.

“As the ministry has sent him back, the chief administrative officer has the right to mark his attendance. A dispute among municipal staff is inappropriate,” a KMC officer quoted Dangol as saying during the informal meeting. The officer requested anonymity as the person is not authorised to talk to the media.

Guragain appreciated Dangol’s role saying that despite being deputy to Mayor Shah, she showed maturity in handling the situation.

She argued that punitive actions cannot be taken against Guragain until he is legally proven guilty. “If he is found guilty, we are ready to take action, but as of now, there is no legal evidence against him,” she argued. “Therefore, we must allow him to attend office.”

Earlier too Deputy Mayor Dangol had been critical of the mayor’s approach in Guragain’s case.

Mayor Shah had criticised the central government for not appointing the new chief administrative officer for the KMC in lieu of Guragain.

While talking to the media in the first week of March, Dangol had said that the KMC, rather than criticise the federal authority, should first make public its investigation on Guragain.

“If the report reveals any shortcomings on the Guragain’s part, disciplinary action should be initiated against him immediately,” Dangol had said. And she had asked the mayor to publicise the investigation report.

Going a step ahead, Dangol on Thursday challenged Mayor Shah to come forward to resolve the problem faced by KMC rather than issuing orders from staying inside his own office chamber.

Following Guragain’s suspension in December, Kathmandu Metropolitan City had requested the Ministry of Federal Affairs to appoint a new chief administrative officer.

But the ministry did not comply with this request. Instead, it sent a letter a month ago, instructing the metropolitan office to help Guragain resume his duties.

Before the ministry requested KMC to facilitate Guragain’s return to his post, he had submitted a written complaint to the ministry stating that he had not been allowed to work since December 23.

In his complaint, Guragain reportedly claimed that Mayor Shah locked his office, preventing him from working and made several false accusations against him.

But replying to the ministry a month earlier, the mayor asserted that the metropolis can’t allow Guragain to work at the office as questions were raised about his involvement in irregularities and the matter was under investigation.

The KMC has accused Guragain of bypassing the formal approval system and due process while endorsing the construction plan for Kathmandu Tower at the Old Bus Park area, and formed a probe panel to investigate his decision.

Shah formed the investigation committee led by Shankar Prasad Pandey, a former government secretary. However, the investigation committee has yet to submit its report to the mayor.

About the incident on Thursday, Mayor Shah’s secretariat has accused the government of displaying arrogance by reinstating a chief administrative officer accused of corruption.

Mayor Shah’s personal secretary, Bhupdev Shah, claimed that political party cadres associated with employee unions facilitated the attendance of the accused officer.

“Uniformed party cadres have reinstated an individual involved in corruption. If the chief administrative officer is found guilty, those who enabled his reinstatement must also be held accountable. We have not barred him from entering the office,” he said.

Bhupdev further alleged that Thursday’s incident at the KMC was an attempt by the government to divert public attention from its weaknesses in handling the Tinkune protest on March 28.

KMC fined former King Gyanendra Shah a total of Rs7,93,000 for causing environmental damage and destruction of public property during the March 28 protest in Tinkune and surrounding areas.