Kanak Mani Dixit, chairman of Sajha Yatayat and prominent civil society leader, has challenged the move of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to summon him at the anti-graft body
Kanak Mani Dixit, chairman of Sajha Yatayat and prominent civil society leader, has challenged the move of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to summon him at the anti-graft body, accusing the CIAA of breaching legal procedure and without mentioning particular charges.
Dixit, in his writ filed at the Supreme Court, stated that the CIAA asking for his property details is against legal process and urged the apex court that the anti-graft body’s move be stopped by an interim order at the earliest. The writ petitioner, however, has made it clear that any authority mandated to investigate into his property in accordance with law is free to probe and he is open to support.
On December 5, a CIAA official had handed over a summon letter to Dixit in the capacity of Sajha Yatayat head at the Tribhuvan International Airport while he was boarding a flight to Delhi. CIAA officials asked him to fill a 13-page property detail form when Dixit appeared at the anti-graft body after returning from India. Questioning over the CIAA’s intent to hand over the letter at the airport instead of submitting it to the Sajhaya Yatayat Office, Dixit has also asked CIAA to make it clear whether the complaint was filed against him.
“I was made to fill out my property details when I appeared before the commission after being summoned by the constitutional body,” he told the Post. “I went to the Supreme Court after I was handed over the form without any complaint and accusations against me.”
Chief Commissioner Lokman Singh Karki, Commissioners Keshav Baral, Deep Basnyat, Nabin Kumar Ghimire, Rajnarayan Pathak, Ganesh Raj Joshi, Sabitri Thapa Gurung and CIAA section officer Purushotam Dahal have been named the defendants in the case.
The writ petitioner has also claimed that asking property details without informing people about complaints and accusation is an illegal work. “The way apex constitutional body like CIAA worked is an illegal move,” states writ.
The writ petitioner has argued that the CIAA move was guided by the chief commissioner’s personnel “prejudice” and “revenge”. Dixit, a civil society leader, had opposed CIAA chief Karki’s appointment citing his background.
Along with Dixit, the CIAA had also summoned 29 politicians and bureaucrats without mentioning charges of involvement in corruption.
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