Anti-graft body arrested 154 govt employees for bribery last fiscal

Kathmandu, February 23

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority said it arrested 154 persons red-handed while receiving bribe from service seekers in 94 sting operations in the fiscal 2017-18, an increase by 92 per cent compared to the previous fiscal.

The anti-graft body had held 83 persons in 64 operations in 2016-17. According to the CIAA, government employees arrested in the act of receiving cash in bribe range from the assistant level to joint secretary. Persons involved in bribery were charged under Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case of government employees, while others working as their accomplices faced action as per Sub-Section (2) of Section 3 of the same law.

The annual report (2017-18) of the CIAA said it filed 194 graft cases against 426 persons at the Special Court during that fiscal. Of them, 97 are related to bribery, 64 fake academic credentials, 13 loss or damage to public property, eight misuse of power, five revenue embezzlement, four disproportionate assets and three others. The CIAA claimed an amount of approximately Rs 450 million in question from the defendants.

Similarly, the CIAA informed that it received as many as 19,488 complaints related to corruption and financial irregularities in the fiscal 2017-18.

Of them, 7,719 were carried forward from the previous fiscal 2016-17. According to the report, the anti-graft body settled 12,400 complaints. The number of complaints pending is 6,458 after preliminary investigation, while 262 complaints have been maintained in deposition with suggestions.

Likewise, it has decided to conduct a detailed investigation into 546 complaints and necessary action is under way in relation to 5,134 complaints.

“The CIAA settled 12,400 complaints in 2017-18 and carried forward 7,088 grievances to the fiscal 2018-19,” the report said. On sector-wise distribution of complaints registered at the CIAA in 2017-18, the highest 18.32 were related to the Ministry of Education, 18.02 the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, 6.48 per cent the Ministry of Land Reform and Management, 4.48 per cent the Ministry of Forest and Environment, 4.37 the Ministry of Health and Population, 4.13 the Ministry of Home Affairs, 2.82 per cent the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, 2.59 the Ministry of Finance and 38.8 related to other ministries and agencies.

The CIAA said it was successful in 67.82 per cent cases it filed at the court which convicted the defendants charge-sheeted for their involvement in corruption in 2017-18.