Kathmandu, July 21:

The chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Surya Nath Upadhayaya, today told the State Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives that the CIAA has launched investigations into the case of doling out of funds by the royal government to 14 journalists.

Claiming that they had not received funds from the royal government, the 14 journalists had urged the government to give them clean chit.

The CIAA chief was briefing the committee about the CIAA-launched investigation into the case. Out of 84 journalists accused of receiving funds from the government, the 14 had moved the ministry, saying they had not received the funds.

Noting that the scribes had accused the ministry staffers of embezzling the funds, Information and Communications Minister Dilendra Prasad Badu had urged the anti-graft body to probe into the case.

The CIAA could not get the opportunity to work freely during the King’s direct rule because the King had formed the Royal Commission for Corruption Control, the CIAA chief said.

MPs had asked the CIAA chief to clarify why he, during the king’s rule, had prevented the parliament from monitoring the CIAA. The RCCC created hurdles for the CIAA, the CIAA chief said. “The situation was definitely uneasy as there was no democracy,” he added.