Small fries like Subedi and Dhakal could not have dared grab government land without a nexus of the political bigwigs
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Wednesday arrested Ram Kumar Subedi, one of the masterminds of the Lalita Niwas land grab case, and his wife Madhavi on charges of preparing forged government documents to register 136 ropanis of government land in collusion with government officials and ministers. Subedi and his wife were arrested by the CIB after getting permission from the Kathmandu District Court, which has allowed the police to remand them in judicial custody for five days. Their arrest comes at a time when just two weeks remain to file the case as per the statutory limits. Earlier, the police had arrested Shobhakant Dhakal, another mastermind, in the Lalita Niwas land grab case. Dhakal is doing time in Dillibazaar prison. Four other then government employees are also in the list, who will be charge-sheeted in the forgery case. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had on February 6, 2020 filed a corruption case against 175 individuals, including former deputy prime minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, four former ministers, former head of the CIAA Deep Basnyat and two former secretaries. Except for Dhakal, political bigwigs are out on bail while former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai, whose cabinets decided to register the government land in the name of the accused, are free from the CIAA charge-sheet.
The Sarada Prasad Trital-led panel, which completed its investigation on the land grab case three years ago, had written to the CIAA and the CIB to take legal action against those involved in capturing 136 ropanis of land belonging to Lalita Niwas. As per the Trital report, the CIAA had filed cases at the Special Court two years ago against 65 persons for the purpose of returning the land to the government, and 110 people on charges of corruption, demanding principal amount and fines. All the cases are now pending in the Special Court. The government had acquired a total of 299 ropanis of land belonging to Subarna Shumsher Rana and his family members in 2022 B.S. as per the Land Acquisition Act-2018 B.S. by giving them due compensation.
However, after the restoration of democracy in 1990, the Rana family members influenced the then government and managed to register the government and seized land in their names in collusion with the political leaders and employees at the Dillibazaar Land Revenue Office. The Madhav Nepal-led cabinet in 2067 B.S. and Bhattarai-led cabinet in 2069 B.S. gave approval to register the government lands in the individuals' names when the PM's residential area was being expanded. Taking legal action against the land mafias is a welcome move. But the big fishes, including former ministers and secretaries, who misinterpreted the laws and had the council of ministers take decisions in their favour, should not be allowed to get off the hook. Small fries like Subedi and Dhakal could not have dared grab the government property, that too lying under the nose of the PM's official residence, without a nexus of prime ministers, ministers and top bureaucrats. Therefore, the CIB and CIAA must file corruption cases against the bigwigs, who were implicated by the Trital commission.
Animal cruelty
In a country where majority of the people live in misery, it would be absurd to talk about animal welfare. Yet protests against animal cruelty, following a video of a dog called Khaire being beaten to death in April, has made the government sit up and form a committee towards that end. Violence against animals is punishable with a jail sentence and a fine under the Criminal Code Act, but this has rarely been put to practice. The nine-member committee is expected to do the needful to prevent intentional cruel treatment of animals, which includes knowingly depriving them of food, water and shelter, and veterinary care or torturing them.
In daily life, people actually don't see much of cruelty to animals except, may be, when they are being transported without maintaining the prescribed standards. But, a visit to a local abattoir where buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered in the most inhumane conditions could make many a person sick. While man cannot do without meat, it is only right that animals be slaughtered by inflicting minimum pain. The panel, in its recommendations, should also ensure that stray animals have a shelter and their wandering does not pose inconvenience to the public.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 24, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.