When Lokman Singh Karki was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) in May 2013, public expectations were high, regardless of the controversy over his appointment. Karki’s appointment had ended a long-standing leadership void at the constitutional anti-graft body, and many thought that pending cases would finally be resolved. This hope was further buttressed by the actions of Karki’s predecessor, Surya Nath Upadhyay, who had booked top bureaucrats, influential politicians and high-profile ministers for corruption.

As rampant corruption had flourished in the years-long absence of a CIAA commissioner, Karki was provided a great opportunity to prove himself. Grand corruption cases—namely cantonment corruption; allegations of amassing property disproportionate to income against over 400 top politicians, bureaucrats and security officials; the airport scam; transformer scam; and deforestation cases—involving billions of rupees had remained unaddressed.

High-profile cases, untouched

In the cantonment case, politicians ranging from UCPN (Maoist) leaders to ministers handling the peace and reconstruction portfolio stand accused of embezzling state funds allocated to former Maoist combatants. Complaints lodged at the CIAA claim that the Maoist leadership misused at least Rs 4 billion allocated as salary and allowances for former Maoist combatants. The amount could be as high as Rs 14 billion if funds allocated for infrastructure construction and food tenders within the cantonment are also included.

Immediately after taking office, Karki publicly expressed commitment to investigate the cantonment case, along with all other high-profile cases. He pledged to  book anyone, even the senior Maoist leadership, if they were found guilty. However, more than a year on, no progress has been made with regards to the cantonment case nor any other cases involving the political class.

Former government secretary Bhagwati Kumar Kafle, who had headed the CIAA as acting chief, had initiated investigations into the cantonment case before Karki’s arrival. But despite being a constitutionallyempowered commissioner, Karki seems to have backtracked from his initial position. When a daily newspaper recently reported that investigations into cantonment corruption were proceeding, CIAA spokespersons corrected the news, arguing that investigations into political cases, including the cantonment case, were on hold at the moment, keeping in mind the ongoing constitution-writing process. “Will the constitution be promulgated if we probe and subsequently book those that the public wish to be booked?” one of the Karki’s men sarcastically asked this scribe after he was repeatedly asked to clarify the reasons behind the delay in investigation.

And this is not an exception. Another high-profile case concerning the construction of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) helipad and its runway came into the CIAA ambit some two years. In 2012, a newly-built helipad at TIA crumbled four months after construction and the 3,048 metre runway overlay caved in. A previous parliamentary committee had instructed the CIAA to probe irregularities in the helipad and runway, concluding that sub-standard construction had cost the state millions of rupees. The helipad had cost Rs 27 million while the runway was overlaid for Rs 240 million.

However, the TIA officials and contractors implicated in the shoddy construction have seen no action against them. Meanwhile, the nation’s sole international airport has gone from bad to worse with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, responsible for operating the airport, hesitant to upgrade the airport until the previous case has been settled.

Furthermore, Karki did not further investigations into the disproportionate properties amassed by politicians. The investigations had been initiated by acting chief Kafle, under whom the CIAA had collected the property details of those accused of accumulating property through illegal means. Still, Karki has dilly-dallied for long on an already-initiated probe.

Going after flies, not tigers

Apart from the transformer scam, the CIAA has not investigated any other large-scale corruption case. Instead, arresting non-gazetted officials through the practice of ‘entrapment’—wherein they are offered large sums of money by undercover officers—has become a regular phenomenon. The CIAA dragged over 600 civil servants to court during the last fiscal year alone; 2,400 civil servants are under the scanner while not a single politician has been taken to court in the same period.

Transparency International’s ‘Daily Lives and Corruption in South Asia’ 2012 survey ranked Nepal’s political parties as the most corrupt institutions in the country. Yet, why has the CIAA failed to act on political corruption? This alone raises serious questions about the CIAA’s credibility.

The Karki-led CIAA is clearly sidelining political corruption and keeping itself busy going after small ‘flies’. Karki was appointed as CIAA head through an ordinance, which had to be endorsed by Parliament within 35 days. However, the political parties who were against Karki’s appointment at the beginning, mainly the CPN-UML and Congress, remained silent when Parliament was finally formed. Such negligence in endorsement and the CIAA’s reluctance to probe political cases suggests a broad consensus in sidelining grand corruption.  

Needless to say, controlling petty corruption is essential for the welfare of the people, but political corruption should be prioritised to clear the nation’s tainted image. If the CIAA had the guts to probe these high-profile corruption cases, there would be little need to launch sting operations or deploy squads to arrest junior-level staffers.

Karki’s follies

Under Karki’s leadership, the CIAA has established regional offices, which are now doing their best to curb local-level corruption. Karki, however, has been accused of directly approaching diplomatic missions in Kathmandu for logistical assistance—vehicles, computers and the like. This goes against protocol and the notion that the state should bear all expenses for prosecuting constitutional bodies like the CIAA to maintain independence.

Questions are also being raised about the CIAA for favouring certain people while investigating financial irregularities at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). When staffers at the Board protested for 35 days demanding a probe into financial irregularities, the CIAA did nothing. When the Tourism Ministry finally formed an internal probe panel, the CIAA first instructed the Ministry to resolve the issue. But later, it took up the case itself, seizing all the documents and putting the case on hold. Karki’s critics say the case was overlooked because of his close ties with top NTB officials.

There have also been other indications of Karki’s high-handedness, like his lobby against an act proposed to further empower the National Vigilance Centre and his actions against other anti-graft bodies, ie, the Department of Inland Revenue.

Start at the top

Controlling corruption is a particularly tough job in developing countries. Political corruption can only be resolved by tackling it at the very top. Therefore, it would be wise on the part of the CIAA to prioritise political corruption and bring other corruption-prone offices, including the judiciary and the Nepal Army under its purview, by domesticating national law in accordance with the UN Convention against Corruption.

Nepal is currently the second riskiest nation in the world, after Afghanistan, in money-laundering. Resolving petty cases alone will not change this situation. The CIAA needs to come up with a robust vision, which must include going after bigger, more powerful fish.

Sharma is with the political desk at the Post