Kathmandu, October 9:

A team led by former judge Madhav Ojha to probe the constitutionality of the now-defunct Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC), has recommended the sacking of Appellate Court Judge Shambhu Khadka, who was the secretary of the RCCC.

It has also recommended stern action against joint government attorneys Prem Raj Karki and Rajendra Pokhrel and the then Pyuthan CDO Ram Prasad Ghimire, who worked in different capacities in the unconstitutional body. “We received the report through Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday,” secretary of the Judicial Council, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, told this daily. He said the sealed report would be produced before the JC meeting that would decide what kind of action should be taken against anyone indicted in the report.

However, a member of the probe panel, Ram Prasad Gaudel, said the report had recommended the JC to sack judge Shambhu Khadha for failing to perform his duty as per the constitution and existing law by working as secretary of the RCCC, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. “We concluded that Khadka failed to save the image of a judge by working as an administrative official in an unconstitutional body,” Gaudel added.

King Gyanendra had directly deployed Khadka to take the post of secretary of the RCCC, but the Judicial Council had barred him from taking the post because his appointment had not come through the JC and was inconsonant with the procedure.

“The JC should bar him from continuing to work as a judge because he had quit his post,” Gaudel added. The Ojha panel has recommended departmental action against all those, including 25 police personnel, who worked for the unconstitutional body, as per the Anti-Corruption Act 2002.