The government has formed a judicial inquiry commission to probe into the excessive use of force by security agencies during the Gen Z protests earlier this month.

A Cabinet meeting on Sunday constituted the three-member commission headed by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, according to Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal.

Former assistant inspector general (AIG) of Nepal Police Bigyan Raj Sharma and legal expert Bishweshwor Prasad Bhandari are the other two members of the commission. The commission is given three months to study the issue and submit a report to the government.

At least 74 people were killed during the anti-corruption uprising that took place on September 8-9 across the country. Hundreds of others sustained serious injuries during the protests. Many of them are still undergoing treatment in several hospitals.

Karki, former chair of the Special Court, also headed the inquiry commission formed to resolve the problems of loan shark victims.

Meanwhile, in a separate decision, the government appointed Manoj Silwal as the managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, transferring incumbent Hitendra Dev Shakya to the Water and Energy Commission under the same ministry.

The Cabinet meeting picked Silwal, a former deputy executive director of the NEA, to replace Shakya just five months after the latter took charge.

On March 24, the then KP Sharma Oli-led Cabinet had removed Kulman Ghising, widely hailed for playing a key role to end Nepal’s chronic load-shedding, and appointed Shakya in his place.

Ghising, who returned to public life after dismissal from the role, had opposed the government decision and criticised political interference in the authority’s leadership. His ouster had sparked widespread criticism from civil society and ordinary citizens who credited him with transforming the country’s power supply sector.

In a dramatic turn of events, Ghising was appointed the Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation last week in the Sushila Karki-led interim Cabinet formed after the Gen Z protests toppled the Oli government.

Earlier, Ghising had directed the NEA authority to take initiatives to collect long-overdue payments amounting to billions of rupees from industries for dedicated and trunk power lines, an issue which had, reportedly, led the then government to sack him from the post of managing director.