KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority today filed a charge-sheet against a couple at the Special Court for forging personal details to get the post of schoolteacher.

The anti-graft body sued Mankala Chaulagai Acharya and her husband Manilal Acharya of Rajapur Municipality, Bardiya. According to the CIAA, Mankala and her husband Manilal had appeared in an exam conducted by the Teachers Service Commission for the post of primary teacher under open category in the fiscal 2017-18.

During the exam, the couple exchanged their personal details in the answer sheets to ensure that Mankala passed the exam. She made it through the exams and got appointed as primary school teacher in Lalitpur, Bardiya, thanks to her husband.

CIAA Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Risal said Mankala mentioned the personal details of her husband and took the exam.

After her appointment as a primary level teacher, Mankala received a total of Rs 674,511 as salary and allowance.

The anti-graft body said the couple were charged under Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002, seeking maximum punishment under the law. The CIAA has also claimed refund of the amount Mankala received as salary and allowances.

Separately, the anti-graft body has arrested a health assistant at the court for allegedly demanding bribe from a service-seeker for administering COVID-19 vaccine. According to the CIAA, Ajay Kuma Sah of Mahottari Health Post in Mahottari was found to have received Rs 20,000 in bribe from the service-seeker for providing him Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The CIAA said legal action would be initiated against Sah.

In its 31st annual report recently submitted to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, the anti-graft body had warned that the tendency of submitting fake academic credentials, teaching licence and citizenship certificate, and forgery of details for the purpose of joining government service, getting promotion and receiving government facilities, was increasing alarmingly.

The CIAA said that the highest cases of fake academic certificates and forgery involved school teachers and police personnel. It urged the authorities concerned to verify the authenticity of academic credentials submitted for appointment and promotion. According to the CIAA, it dealt with a total of 22,625 complaints in the fiscal 2020- 21. Among them, 5.61 per cent of complaints were related to fake educational certificates and forgery.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 15, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.