A fair probe demands that everyone involved in the Lalita Niwas scam be investigated impartially
After dillydallying for a fortnight, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) recorded the statements of former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai on Monday as ordered by the Supreme Court. Their statements were recorded amidst speculation that the CIB was planning to present its report to the authorities without interrogating the two former prime ministers. On August 6, the apex court had ordered the agencies investigating the Lalita Niwas land grab scam to also bring under their probe all the higher ups, namely Cabinet decision makers as well as those implementing the decisions, involved in transferring government land plots to private ownership. A series of Cabinet decisions were taken in 2010 and 2012 when the two were in power to transfer Lalita Niwas land into private ownership.
The CIB is investigating the case under organised crime, which means three or more persons were involved in the offence. Anyone proved guilty could face upto five years' imprisonment apart from fines.
The CIB might not have quizzed the former prime ministers were it not for the pressure built up by the political parties and the public at large. Social media was rife with speculations as to how the government was trying to shield the two prime ministers while only interrogating lower rank government employees.
If the Nepal Cabinet had helped transfer government land to individuals, the Bhattarai Cabinet allowed the land to be registered under a fake guthi, or trust. It is not known if the CIB merely recorded the statements of the duo or also asked questions and got responses. The investigating officer is tight-lipped on the matter, raising questions as to whether it was an inquisition, which would have required the presence of a government attorney, or a mere formality to hoodwink the people. The government of Pushpa Kamal Dahal has enough reasons to protect Nepal and Bhattarai. The present ruling coalition would not have come into existence without the support of Nepal. Also, if the former prime ministers can be probed and charged for a misdeed, it is only a matter of time before the current PM is dragged into a number of scams that the country is currently wallowing in.
A fair probe into the Lalita Niwas land grab case demands that everyone involved in it – who number more than 400 – be investigated impartially without prejudice or favour. The credibility of the investigating bodies is at stake when the investigation of certain high-profile people is influenced by political consideration. The government cannot protect a handful of its people while throwing others in prison.
It would also be in the interest of the government to get to the bottom of the case and provide justice to those who might have been unjustly prosecuted. The government must first overturn the court verdict of 2000 that ruled Lalita Niwas land was individual property, paving the way for its sale to the land mafia.
The report on the investigation will reveal if we can expect an impartial probe into the two other scandals involving high-profile people that have rocked the country recently, notably the fake Bhutanese refugee scam and the one quintal gold smuggling case.
Launch an inquiry
As many as 221 minor inmates, who were doing their time at the well-secured Juvenile Correction Centre at Sano Thimi, escaped from it following a violent clash between the police and the inmates over the death of an 18-year-old boy. The boy, identified as Kamla Basnet from Ramechhap, died while undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. However, police managed to arrest a total of 194 escapees from different parts of the Kathmandu Valley within hours.
Twenty-seven juveniles are said to be still at large. Police said as many as 20 police personnel and over a dozen juveniles were injured during the melee. Family members of the deceased juvenile have alleged that the boy died of torture inside the centre, and negligence in timely medical attendance.
The correction centre is operated by an NGO called Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme Nepal, not supervised by the Nepal Police. One question remains unanswered: How come the government has allowed the NGO to operate the juvenile centre without proper supervision from the designated government agency? Is there any law that allows an NGO to manage a juvenile centre? The Ministry of Home Affairs must launch a thorough inquiry into the boy's death and the facilities available in the juvenile centre.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.