The Central Investigation Bureau on Thursday arrested Nepali Congress lawmaker Sunil Sharma, who is a medical doctor, on the charge of possessing fake academic certificates of grades 11 and 12. The arrest comes just as he has been speaking out against the government’s inability to curb gold smuggling.

Sharma, in Parliament and in public, had been demanding resignations of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat claiming that they both should be held responsible for the recent smuggling of over 100 kg of gold from Hong Kong. The gold was seized last month after it had passed the airport customs.

Speaking to the media after his arrest, Sharma compared the present government with the North Korean regime.

“The state of North Korea has arrested me, but I am happy,” said Sharma. He also threatened to start a fast-unto-death demanding a thorough investigation into the gold smuggling case. Besides Sharma, the CIB also arrested four other doctors on Thursday. According to the CIB, Dr Amrit Chaudary, Dr Rambabu Yadav, Dr Arina Yadav and Dr Ranjit Kumar Yadav were arrested on Thursday on similar charges. Chaudhry is serving at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj and the remaining three are serving in other medical institutions.

While the constitution requires the police to inform the Speaker before arresting any lawmaker when Parliament is in session, Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire was kept in the dark about the arrest plan, according to Ghimire’s office.

Article 103 (6) of the constitution of Nepal says no member of the federal parliament shall be arrested during the period from the issuance of a notice summoning the session to its prorogation. It further says if any member is arrested, the authority making such arrest shall forthwith give information thereof to the person presiding over the House concerned.

After Sharma’s arrest, a CIB team led by SP Nawaraj Adhikari reached the parliament secretariat to notify the Speaker.

As per the complaints registered at the Nepal Medical Council some doctors had produced fake academic certificates of the proficiency certificate level to sit the MBBS entrance examinations. The certificates were found not verified by the National Examination Board, the CIB said in the information provided to the parliament secretariat.

The CIB has claimed that it had received a letter from the National Examination Board on July 21, 2021 regarding Sharma’s academic certificates.

Police sources said Sharma was arrested for investigation after the certificates said to be issued from an Indian academic institution were found to be fake. Sharma, also owns the Biratnagar-based Nobel Medical College and a few hospitals.

Nepal Police spokesman Kuber Kadayat said Sharma was arrested on the charge of possessing fake certificates and more such individuals could be arrested in days to come.

Sharma was elected to the House of Representatives from constituency 3 of Morang last November. He is considered to be close to Shekhar Koirala, who leads a dissident camp in the Nepali Congress. Koirala has objected to the arrest. Also, a meeting of the Congress parliamentary party held on Thursday evening discussed the arrest.

“We have taken note of Sharma’s arrest,” said Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak. “We will take an update from the Speaker about the arrest. Once we have all the details of the arrest, we will make a position and speak.”

Congress leader Koirala said the timing of Sharma’s arrest has made him suspicious about the government’s motives.

“He had been making public statements against the home minister and the finance minister,” said Koirala.

Meanwhile, a superintendent of Nepal Police told the Post that Sharma had produced a fake marksheet for pursuing the MBBS degree.

Some seven years ago, Nepal Police had launched a crackdown on fake academic certificates in the medical sector among others, and that was when it was revealed that many medical doctors including Sharma had used fake Indian certificates to pursue MBBS studies, and many were in medical practice without obtaining a license from the Nepal Medical Council, the police superintendent said.

After the police launched the campaign, Sharma left the country for Japan and returned after the heat of the investigation had cooled down.

Shekhar Adhikari, the Speaker’s press coordinator said that Nepal Police verbally informed the Speaker about Sharma’s arrest on Thursday.

Sharma was arrested from his residence at Golfutar in Kathmandu.

Besides possessing fake educational certificates, Sharma has a controversial background as a medical professional. He has been accused of attempting to influence politicians regarding the allocation of medical seats, granting of affiliation to medical colleges and the determination of MBBS fees.

Sharma’s Nobel Medical College had on several occasions in the past landed in controversies including failing to meet the standards to run a dedicated medical college and other facilities. The college was also accused of admitting more students than the allocated seats.

According to a report published in Himal Magazine, Sharma evaded taxes.

The report quoting an eight-year-old investigation carried out by the Department of Revenue Investigation said Sharma’s Nobel Medical College had understated the value of its property to avoid taxes, diverted the bank loan taken to construct the college infrastructure elsewhere, and manipulated the amount invested in the college to dodge taxes and tax submission deadline.