The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority said on Wednesday that it has found appointments of office bearers at various councils that govern the health sector to be illegal.

Issuing a statement, the anti-graft body has said appointments at the Nepal Medical Council, Nepal Nursing Council, Nepal Health Professional Council and Nepal Pharmacy Council among others were made directly by the health minister and that those appointments were illegal.

Office bearers shall be appointed only through a Cabinet decision and a minister does not have the authority to appoint officials in such crucial positions, reads the CIAA statement.

Citing a Supreme Court decision that the authority vested with the Nepal government shall be used only by the Cabinet, Krishan Hari Pushkar, spokesman for the CIAA, said in the statement: “The CIAA will write to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking to know whether the salaries and other benefits enjoyed by office bearers should be recovered.”

The apex court decision has also said that apart from the Cabinet, no other agencies or individual member of the Cabinet shall be allowed to exercise the authority vested with the Nepal government.

The CIAA has also asked the Prime Minister’s Office to formulate criteria for the appointment of office bearers.

The CIAA initiated its investigation into the issue following complaints against the appointment of Dr Krishna Prasad Adhikari as the president and other officials as members of the Nepal Health Research Council.