The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has directed the government to recover perks and salaries from former heads of Nepali diplomatic missions, citing that they caused additional financial burden to the state by extending their stay in the deputed countries.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has directed the government to recover perks and salaries from former heads of Nepali diplomatic missions, citing that they caused additional financial burden to the state by extending their stay in the deputed countries.
The national anti-graft agency sent separate letters to the Office of Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, instructing them to recover “illegal” perks and salaries received by the ex-ambassadors.
The CIAA investigation had revealed that over half a dozen ambassadors had received their salaries by overstaying their tenure.
According to CIAA sources, Pradhumna Bikram Sah, Shankar Prasad Sharma, Suresh Chandra Chalise, Sushil Chandra Amatya, Arun Dhita, Madhuwan Poudel, Mohan Krishna Shrestha and Bhojraj Ghimire are among the list of former ambassadors who extended their stay in their deputed missions and received salaries.
Sharma, former ambassador to the US, has said one cannot agree with the charge brought upon by the CIAA.
He argued that there is no such thing as fixed tenure in case of ambassadors appointed by Nepal government.
“Firstly, the government does not clearly mention the term expiry in case of ambassadors. And there are times when they have to extend their stay by one and half months to attend the scheduled functions,” Sharma said.
He added that he was ready to return the salary and perks that he received when he “overstayed” once the government writes to him formally.
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