It seemed inevitable.

After seeking multiple clarifications from him, the government on Monday sacked Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Executive Director Kulman Ghising. His four-year term was expiring on August 9.

A Congress minister in Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s Cabinet, which sacked Ghising on Monday night, indirectly acknowledged Ghising’s dismissal. “The Cabinet has the authority to remove an official it had appointed,” he said.

Talking to the Post on Monday night, Ghising said he was yet to receive a formal letter from the government, but if the news reports are true, he would challenge the decision in court.

“I submitted clarification six times. I have clearly stated my position. I will again make my position public through a press conference,” he told the Post.

When asked if he would knock on the court door, Ghising said, “I certainly will.”

Ghising was appointed the NEA head in 2021 by the government headed by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba.

After sacking Ghising on Monday, the government appointed Hitendra Dev Shakya the new NEA executive director.

Shakya had been appointed as chief by the previous Oli-led government on February 9, 2021. But the Sher Bahadur Deuba government later removed him from the post and appointed Ghising instead on August 11 of the same year.

“Monday’s Cabinet meeting decided to remove Ghising and appoint Shakya as the head of the NEA,” a member of the Cabinet told the Post.

Yet Minister for Information and Communication Technology and government spokesperson Prithvi Subba Gurung denied knowledge of Ghising's dismissal.

“The government is not aware of Ghising’s dismissal as NEA chief,” Minister Gurung said while emerging from the Cabinet meeting.

Despite Gurung’s denial, Secretary at Energy Ministry Suresh Acharya said it had already been decided that Monday’s Cabinet meeting would dismiss Ghising from his post.

Ever since the formation of the Congress-UML coalition in July last year, tensions had been brewing between the government and Ghising. In the meantime, the government had repeatedly sought clarifications from the NEA chief.

In his five-page clarification submitted to the Ministry of Energy in February-end, Ghising, while defending his position, had argued that the ministry could not expel him.

The ministry had sought an explanation from Ghising asking why he should not be removed from his position for insubordination.

After Ghising argued that the ministry could not remove him since it was the Cabinet that had appointed him, the Cabinet on March 6 again issued a four-point clarification notice. Ghising had then submitted a 17-page clarification to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation on March 9.

There were other ways the government was making life difficult for Ghising. Before the Cabinet sought the four-point clarification, the Ministry of Energy had given Ghising zero out of 100 points while rating his work performance, citing his failure to submit his performance report on time.

As the tussle between the government and the NEA chief worsened, leaders from the main opposition party including CPN (Maoist Centre) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, as well as leader of the Nepali Congress opposition camp Shekhar Koirala, publicly defended the head of the power utility.

Maoist Centre spokesperson Agni Sapkota has termed the decision to remove Ghising ‘malicious’. Sapkota said the Cabinet decision undermined good governance and demanded an immediate rectification of the decision.

“This decision only benefits middlemen in the power sector. We call for its immediate annulment,” Sapkota told the Post.

A litany of accusations

The Energy Ministry, while seeking clarification in late February, had also accused Ghising of unauthorised signing of a bilateral energy trade deal with India on February 12—in a way that would increase per unit price for Nepalis.

Minister Khadka also raised questions over Ghising’s authority to enter into such contracts. He questioned how Ghising could sign such an agreement without the approval of relevant ministers, and also questioned the financial implications of the deal.

Khadka and Ghising were at loggerheads over recovering dues worth billions of rupees from industrialists for using dedicated power supply in the past.

On October 24 last year, NEA had cut off power to several industrial firms for their unpaid electricity bills accumulated during the load-shedding period between July 2015 and June 2020. This move drew strong criticism from the government.

Despite continuous pressure from the government, the NEA did not restore power supply. As a result, the Cabinet meeting on November 10 decided to resume electricity supply to the firms but warned that if outstanding dues were not cleared within 15 days, power supply could again be cut.

The firms failed to clear their dues within the given time. Yet the ministry directed the NEA not to disconnect the power until a committee formed to study the Time of Day (TOD) meters submitted its report.

The committee, formed to investigate the TOD power usage by the firms with unpaid dues, faced disputes between the ministry and the NEA over its legitimacy. Thus, even in four months, the committee was unable to complete its assigned tasks.

When the Energy Minister Dipak Khadka, at the NEA board meeting on December 19, proposed using NEA funds to pay allowances, meet operational expenses and buy vehicles for the committee, NEA Executive Director Ghising plus two other board members—Ratan Ayer and Bharat Acharya—objected.

Questioning the committee’s legality, they registered their ‘note of dissent’ against the decision to use the NEA funds for such purposes.