Kathmandu, March 11

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has filed separate chargesheets at the Special Court against three persons for their alleged involvement in corruption and irregularities.

According to the CIAA, it sued Assistant Forest Officer Krishna Bahadur Devkota and office assistant Pramod Kumar Teli of Division Forest Office at Bardaghat of Nawalparasi after they were caught in the act of receiving bribe of Rs 200,000 from a service-seeker. Devkota and Teli had solicited the amount as kickback for awarding the service-seeker a tender. CIAA Spokesperson Pradip Kumar Koirala said Devkota negotiated with the service-seeker for the bribe amount and asked Teli to receive it. Acting on a tip-off, a team of the anti-graft body took them into custody with the bribe. They have been charged under Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act-2002, seeking maximum penalty as provisioned in the law. Despite repeated warnings by the CIAA against public post holders regarding its intensified sting operation, bribery continues unabated at government offices.

A report recently published by the CIAA stated that it mobilised its employees in corruption-prone public offices, posing as service-seekers for integrity test of the concerned officials.

Micro-surveillance and rapid action procedures have also been implemented to swing into action against government employees involved in irregularities and corruption.

Such actions are expected to improve public service delivery system by controlling corrupt tendency of officials, according to the CIAA.

The CIAA filed a case against Kalapati Devi Awasthi, principal of Shree Bhumiraj Primary school, Badam, Dadeldhura, for submitting fake certificates of academic qualification to join teaching service.

According to the anti-graft body, she was found possessing the certificates of high school level from Allahabad, India. She has been charged in accordance with Section 12 of the act. The CIAA has booked more than 15 persons for enjoying government services and facilities on the basis of fake certificates over the past two months. According to the CIAA, the practice of submitting fake academic credentials, including teaching licences and citizenship certificates to join government service, get promotion and receive government facilities, is rampant in public offices.