KATHMANDU, July 15

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority wants to be free from Parliamentary committee’s supervision in the new constitution.

CIAA on Wednesday sent its six-point suggestion to the Constituent Assembly, political parties and all CA members on the draft constitution demanding removal of provisions of Article 284 that require the monitoring and evaluation of the chief and other office bearers of the constitutional body by the thematic committee of the House of Representatives.

CIAA also demanded an authority to look into corruption cases involving private and public agencies, including banks, financial institutions and corporate houses in the new constitution.

It stated that the draft constitution limited its powers compared to what were ensured by the Interim Constitution.

While the Interim Constitution had provisioned that CIAA can investigate into cases of corruption and inappropriate acts that involve a person holding a public position, the draft only mentions ‘corruption’ and has dropped ‘inappropriate act’, according to CIAA. The anti-corruption body opposed the restrictive clause of Article 238 (1) of the draft constitution that states that the CIAA can be prevented from investigating certain office bearers if the law permits the same. It stated that the restrictive clause should be removed and CIAA’s jurisdiction should not be limited by laws as intended by the restrictive clause of the constitution.

CIAA claimed that the parliamentary monitoring and investigation into its activities were unnecessary and would invite conflict of interest.

As CIAA is a constitutional body and submits its annual report to the President, who forwards it to the Parliament and concerned parliamentary committees for discussion, it is not appropriate to mention a separate provision of monitoring and evaluation of the CIAA chief and other office bearers, the anti-corruption body argued. CIAA added that since its office bearers could be impeached by the Parliament, that act itself was an act of Parliamentary monitoring and investigation, therefore, a separate provision of Parliamentary monitoring was not required.

CIAA also wants its office bearers to remain in their posts until the age of 65 or till the completion of their tenure.