KATHMANDU, JULY 7

Land revenue offices have proved to be a hub of bribery among government offices in the country.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority recorded 10 cases of bribery in the past five months. It said land revenue offices had topped the list.

Four out of 10 cases of bribery took place in land revenue offices followed by three in the survey office, two in school management committees and one each in the police office and local level.

Similarly, on April 11, the anti-graft body arrested Dhanusha Land Revenue Office Chief Sunil Kumar Jha with bribe money. A team from the CIAA Bardibas Office caught Jha with the bribe amount of Rs 500,000 that he had received from a service-seeker.

He was arrested from a tea shop at Bhanuchowk in Janakpurdham.

Similarly, three persons, including a non-gazetted second class officer of revenue office at Chabahil, Kathmandu, Laxman Basnet was held with Rs 135,000 from a restaurant.

Likewise, non-gazetted second class officer of land revenue office at Tokha, Kathmandu, Binod Tiwari and Taplejung Land Revenue Office Chief Lekha Paneru, were arrested with Rs 20,000 and Rs 150,000 in bribe respectively during the past five months.

Earlier, a study report of the CIAA had categorically identified 14 public offices, which were most prone to corruption and where services were denied without bribe. According to the report, the amount of bribe money to be offered or given to the concerned officials depends on the nature of service sought. The report stated that land revenue office, survey office, inland revenue office, police office, transport management office and district administration, among others, had been plagued by bribery.

The CIAA said service-seekers were forced to pay bribe money for work related to land registration, transfer of land ownership, land ownership certificate, and holding and release of land in land revenue office. Similarly, employees of survey office notoriously indulge in corruption and seek bribe for survey and measurement of land. Authorities in inland revenue office demand bribe money for tax valuation. Even elected representatives in the local levels are getting more corrupt. They take bribe for providing services such as issuance of certificate of personal events like birth, death and marriage.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.