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The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has often been criticized for focusing on petty corruption while overlooking larger cases. However, data from the past year suggests that public officials involved in major corruption have not been exempt from the constitutional anti-graft body’s scrutiny.

High-ranking officials, including former ministers and sitting chief secretaries, have been caught in CIAA’s investigations, showing that those abusing their positions for corruption are being held accountable, regardless of their status.

The CIAA has filed cases against officials ranging from the Chief Secretary, who holds the highest administrative position in the country, to former chief ministers and ministers. The CIAA has filed cases in the Special Court regarding the wide-body aircraft procurement scandal, Melamchi corruption, Madhesh Province's bicycle procurement, and irregularities in Nepal Telecom's MDMS procurement.

Similarly, the CIAA has investigated and filed cases on major irregularities in provincial governments as well as irregularities at the local units. These cases range from corruption in construction of Bharat Lake in Sarlahi to irregularities in stone and gravel contracts in Godavari. 

In the previous fiscal year, the CIAA filed 201 cases in the Special Court. This includes 58 cases related to gaining illegal profit while loss to the state, 48 cases of bribery, 34 cases of fake educational certificates, 34 cases of damage to public property, 13 cases of revenue leakage, 11 cases of accumulation of illegal assets and three miscellaneous cases.

Here we outline major cases registered by the CIAA in the Special Court in fiscal year 2023/24.

Corruption in excise sticker printing

• Case filed: 23 June 2024
• Accused: Baikuntha Aryal (former Secretary of Communications Ministry and former Chief Secretary), Ritesh Kumar Shakya (former Director General of Inland Revenue Department and current Joint Secretary at Finance Ministry), Bikal Poudel (former Executive Director of Security Printing Center), and 11 others including companies
• Amount: Rs 386,717,640 

Irregularities in Bharat Lake construction  

• Case filed: 12 June 2024
• Accused: Bharat Kumar Thapa (suspended Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, Sarlahi), Lila Kumari Muktan (Deputy Mayor), Bimal Kumar Pokharel (former Chief Administrative Officer), and 3 others. Charged with damaging public property, preparing false reports and documents
• Amount: Rs 302,934,897

Corruption in Godavari Municipality’s stone mining contract

• Case filed: 4 June 2024  
• Accused: Gajendra Maharjan (former Mayor of Godavari Municipality, Lalitpur), Muna Adhikari (former Deputy Mayor), and 7 others including a company
• Charged with revenue leakage
• Amount: Rs 1.04bn
• Status: Acquitted by Special Court, but CIAA has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court

Accumulation of illegal assets

• Case filed: 4 June 2024
• Accused: Bikal Poudel, former Executive Director of Security Printing Center, allegedly received commissions from domestic and foreign supplier companies for materials supplied to Telecom. CIAA claims he deposited funds in United Overseas Bank in Singapore and Bank of America in the United States
• Amount: Rs 630m 

Corruption in software and equipment procurement for security printing press   

• Case filed: 13 May 2024
• Accused: Bikal Poudel (former Executive Director of Security Printing Center), Saphal Shrestha (former Director of National Information Technology Center), four others and a company
• Amount: Rs 407,557,740 

Corruption by furnishing false information 

• Case filed: 22 April 2024
• Accused: Bikala Poudel (suspended former Executive Director of Security Printing Center)
• Case: Poudel allegedly obtained foreign permanent residency in violation of Article 291 of the Constitution, and failed to self-declare this information while holding public office

Corruption through registration of forest land in individual’s names  

• Case filed: 19 May 2024  
• Accused: Mohan Snehi Rasaili (former Chief of Kailali Land Revenue Office), Man Bahadur Chand (former Chief of Kailali Survey Office) and six others
• Case: 15 bighas of land designated as forest in Narayanpur-8, Kailali, were illegally registered in individuals’ names by forging documents

Corruption in tea development corporation

• Case filed: 11 May 2024
• Accused: Sanjay Bilotia (former Senior Accountant at Nepal Tea Development Corporation Limited, Birtamod, Jhapa) and 3 others  
• Case: Misappropriation of funds by inflating electricity bills paid to Nepal Electricity Authority
• Amount: Rs 3,252,368 

Corruption case against suspended Nepal Telecom MD Sunil Poudel

• Case filed: 22 April 2024
• Accused: Sunil Poudel (suspended Managing Director of Nepal Telecom, former Executive Director of National Information Technology Center)
• Amount: Rs 37,546,324.57

Accumulation of illegal assets

• Case filed: 11 April 2024
• Accused: Bharat Kumar Thapa (Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, Sarlahi)
• Amount: 53,353,189.66

Corruption in procurement of wide-body aircraft for NAC

• Case filed: 5 April 2024
• Accused: Jeevan Bahadur Shahi (former Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, current Karnali Province Assembly member), Sugat Ratna Kansakar (former General Manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation), and 30 others
• Case: Irregularities in procurement of two A330-200 aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation
• Amount: Rs 1,471,085,482.85 

Corruption in health equipment procurement

• Case filed: 1 April 2024
• Accused: Chandra Dev Mehta (former Director of Health Directorate, Dhankuta), accountant, engineer, and three others, along with Hospitech Enterprise Pvt Ltd
• Case: Irregularities in tender for Covid-19 center equipment at Koshi Hospital, Morang
• Amount: Rs 28,966,050 

Corruption in MDMS procurement

• Case filed: 29 March 2024
• Accused: Digambar Jha (former Chairperson of Nepal Telecommunications Authority), Ananda Raj Khanal (Director/Senior Director), Min Prasad Aryal (Deputy Director/Director), Binod Chandra Shrestha (Assistant Director/Deputy Director), 15 others and 2 companies
• Case: Irregularities in procurement of Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) and consulting services by Nepal Telecommunications Authority
• Amount: Rs 919,830,882 

Corruption in Biratnagar Customs 

• Case filed: 27 March 2024
• Accused: Tara Prasad Sapkota (former Chief Customs Officer, Biratnagar Customs Office), Navakul Sharma (Customs Officer), 2 others and Dev International Pvt Ltd
• Case: Deleting import declaration records from the system to evade revenue
• Amount: Rs 8,455,605 

Registration of government land as private property

• Case filed: 26 Feb 2024
• Accused: Bishnu Kumar Neupane (former Chief Survey Officer, Survey Office, Chandragadhi, Jhapa) and 171 others
• Case: Illegally registering 29 bighas 17 kattha 4 dhur of public land in the names of different individuals 
• Amount: Rs 346,654,849.65

Registration of government land as private property

• Case filed: 26 Feb 2024  
• Accused: Ram Dev Mandal Dhanuk (former Survey Officer, Survey Office, Chandragadhi, Jhapa) and 186 others
• Case: Illegally registering 28 bighas 17 kattha 13 dhur of public land in the names of different individuals through self-declared land registration process
• Amount: Rs 416,219,801.75

Corruption in Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project

• Case filed: 19 Feb 2024
• Accused: Dr Sanjay Sharma (former Secretary of Water Supply Ministry and former Board Chairman of Melamchi Water Supply Development Committee), Bhim Prasad Upadhyay, Gajendra Kumar Thakur, Executive Director of the committee, and 11 others including consultants and construction companies
• Case: Payment made for work not done, failure to deduct rental charges for equipment used by previous contractor, failure to adjust overpayments in subsequent bills
• Amount: Rs 6.73bn 

Land embezzlement in Tikapur Urban Development Committee  

• Case filed: 7 Feb 2024
• Accused: Netra Prasad Joshi (former Chairman of Tikapur Urban Development Committee, Kailali), Lalit Tamrakar, Dhiraj Regmi and 246 others
• Case: Illegal transfer of 600 kattha of public land to individuals through fake receipts and collusion of committee officials

Making illegal gains by causing loss to state

• Case filed: 2 Nov 2023
• Accused: Baikuntha Adhikari (former Secretary of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, Lumbini Province) and three others
• Case: Supply of substandard agricultural equipment to farmers through cooperatives under mechanization program
• Amount: Rs 13,160,000 

Misuse of grants provided for snake farming

• Case filed: 4 Oct 2023
• Accused: Bijay Kumar (former Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, Province 2), Prem Kumar Shrestha (former Secretary), Man Bahadur Khadka (former Mayor of Lalbandi Municipality, Sarlahi), and four others including an organization
• Case: Irregularities in establishment and operation of Anti-venom Production and Research Center Nepal (APRCN) in collaboration with Jhalanath Khanal Health Science Academy
• Amount: Rs 179,833,000 

Irregularities in national payment gateway procurement 

• Case filed: 28 Sept 2023
• Accused: Sanjay Sharma (former Secretary of Science and Technology Ministry and former Chairman of National Information Technology Center), Pranita Upadhyay (former Executive Director of National Information Technology Center), and seven others
• Case: Misuse of government property and funds in procurement of National Payment Gateway system that has remained unused for past six years
• Amount: Rs 232,758,077 

Irregularities in procurement of Jalahari for Pashupatinath Temple 

• Case filed: 27 Sept 2023
• Accused: Pradeep Dhakal (former Member Secretary of Pashupati Area Development Trust), Milan Kumar Thapa (current Member Secretary and former Treasurer) and one other
• Amount: Rs 11,701,781.85 
• Status: Acquitted

Corruption in Triyuga Municipality

• Case filed: 23 Sept 2023
• Accused: Baldev Chaudhary (former Mayor of Triyuga Municipality, Udayapur) and three others  
• Case: Revenue leakage in contracts for extraction and sale of stone, gravel and sand in FY 2021/22
• Amount: Rs 8,135,382.16 

Corruption in Bhimdatta Municipality 

• Case filed: 26 Aug 2023
• Accused: Surendra Bahadur Bista (former Mayor of Bhimdatta Municipality, Kanchanpur), Hari Datta Joshi (former Acting Chief Administrative Officer), eight others and Bhawani Construction Pvt Ltd
• Case: Illegal discounts given on revenue from natural resources (river-based materials) contracts in FY 2019/20
• Amount: Rs 13,497,453 

Corruption in Navarajpur Rural Municipality 

• Case filed: 11 June 2024
• Accused: Bishwa Mohan Prasad Yadav (former Chairperson of Navrajpur Rural Municipality, Siraha), Shobha Kumari Yadav (Deputy Chairperson), Chief Administrative Officer, and 11 others
• Case: Misappropriation of funds allocated for completing unfinished work at Ramjanaki Dalit Basic School in Majhaura from Province 2 government’s MP grant

Corruption in Karjanha Municipality

• Case filed: 28 March 2024
• Accused: Ganga Paswan (former Mayor of Karjanha Municipality, Siraha), Jagadish Mandal (former Acting Chief Administrative Officer), three others and a company
• Case: Irregularities in contract for administrative building construction in FY 2021/22.

Irregularities in Samsi Rural Municipality 

• Case filed: 11 March 2024
• Accused: Shesh Farooq (former Chairperson of Samsi Rural Municipality, Mahottari), Mohibul Ansari (former Acting Chief Administrative Officer), and eight others
• Case: Irregularities in road construction projects in Samsi-6, including improper use of contract engineers for estimation and evaluation

Irregularities in Shahidnagar Municipality

• Case filed: 4 March 2024
• Accused: Uday Kumar Yadav (former Mayor of Shahidnagar Municipality, Dhanusha), Shila Devi Kapar (Deputy Mayor), Shatrughna Yadav (Chief Administrative Officer) and six others
• Case: Procurement of substandard sanitary pads in FY 2020/21 without following public procurement laws

Irregularities in Jaleshwar Municipality

• Case filed: 10 May 2024
• Accused: Suresh Sah Sonar (Mayor of Jaleshwar Municipality, Mahottari), Raushan Khatun (Deputy Mayor), Mitra Lal Dhakal (former Chief Administrative Officer) and nine others
• Case: Substandard work in road construction in Jaleshwar-1

The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) is facing serious allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement and governance failures.

A recent report by an investigation committee formed by the Social Welfare Council highlights multiple instances of governance breakdowns within the NRCS. According to the report, court orders, including a Supreme Court directive to reinstate the executive committee, were blatantly ignored. Instead, a politically backed faction has reportedly seized control of the institution, preventing the reinstated executive committee from functioning. This has allowed a group with vested interests to maintain illegal control over the organization, it added.

Likewise, the probe committee has raised concerns about the quality of blood distributed by the NRCS’s blood transfusion centers. The report states that the executive director was appointed in an illegal manner and that money was embezzled in the procurement of land in Bhaktapur.

According to the report, irregularities were observed in the procurement of goods and services, corruption was detected in the leasing of buildings and land, fixed deposits were provided to banks without competition, and management was not complying with existing rules and regulations. As many as 16 probe committees have been formed to investigate irregularities in the NRCS. Since the recommendations and suggestions given by these committees have not been implemented, the Social Welfare Council has requested the federal government to take immediate action to implement these suggestions and recommendations.

The latest probe committee was led by Sanjay Kumar Shah. Durga Prasad Bhattarai, Dipendra Pant, Dhruba Bhandari and Giriraj Kandel were the members of the committee.

Outstanding amounts not collected

The investigation committee found that the NRCS management was not putting efforts to recover a total of Rs 20.19m in outstanding rent fees from various individuals and firms. Among the defaulters, Star Enterprises alone owes Rs 1.89m to the NRS in unpaid rent. Additionally, the NRCS needs to collect Rs 7.12m from the Public Health Concern Trust, Rs 1.38m from Santosh Sapkota, Rs 936,380 from Gauri Shankar Dahal, Rs 904,805 from Gaurav Pokharel, and Rs 899,376 from Pramod Dhungana. Likewise, total recoverables, amounting to Rs 19.41m, have not been recorded in the NRCS accounts.

The committee also uncovered significant irregularities in the leasing of NRCS properties, including the building housing Kathmandu Model Hospital. Proper procedures were bypassed, and properties were rented out without competitive bidding or public notices, resulting in substantial financial losses, the committee stated in its report. Outstanding rent fees amounting to Rs 20.19m from various individuals and firms have not been collected, with some pending since the fiscal year 2020/21, it added.

Leadership issues 

According to the report, Umesh Dhakal lacks the legal grounds to continue serving as the Executive Director of the NRCS. It states that Dhakal’s financial transactions and activities during the transitional phase have not complied with existing laws and regulations. Dhakal’s term, along with that of another director, expired two and a half years ago. Although the District Administration, Kathmandu, permitted them to continue their roles until further arrangements were made, both have remained in their positions even after a new executive assumed office in June last year.

Irregularities in land procurement

The committee has concluded that Rs 210m was embezzled during the procurement of land in Bhaktapur. The NRCS purchased a land plot measuring 5 ropani 13 ana 3 paisa from Rajesh Deshemaru in Bhaktapur Municipality-4 for Rs 63.28m. However, various reports revealed that the actual land measurement was only 5 ropani 7 ana and 2 paisa.

The report highlights several irregularities in this transaction. It points out that the maximum cost for the land purchase was not determined beforehand, an unusually large amount of money was spent, and the procurement notice was published with a shortened notice period of 15 days instead of the standard 30 days. Additionally, the notice did not specify the frontage of the land.  

Furthermore, it was discovered that the purchased land lacked road access. To address this, the NRCS bought an additional 13 ana 3 paisa of land to construct a road to the plot, costing another Rs 9.95m.

Operational irregularities

According to the report, elections for the NRCS central committee, seven provincial committees, and over 50 district committees were conducted by violating established regulations. The NRCS statute specifies that only the general secretary and the executive committee have the authority to conduct elections. However, the report states that the executive director unilaterally appointed election officers and held elections across the center, provinces, and districts, bypassing the NRCS statutes and election regulations.

The report also highlights illegalities in the NRCS’s earthquake response program and staff management. Volunteers were found to have been reimbursed for airline tickets without the required approved travel orders, violating organizational rules and directives. It was unclear what work these travels were for, and no reports were submitted post-travel to justify the expenses, it added.

Further, the justification for travel undertaken by executive committee members and the disaster management committee coordinator during the earthquake response was not transparent. The report states that the NRCS failed to adopt cost-cutting and austerity measures despite its severe financial constraints.

Given the severity of the findings, the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has recommended forming a new ad-hoc committee to hold a general assembly of the NRCS and implement the technical report's recommendations. Likewise, immediate action has been urged to address the serious quality issues at the blood transfusion centers. 

The investigation committee has called for the implementation of recommendations from various bodies, and suggested amending the NRCS constitution to limit the tenure of office-bearers to no more than two terms to prevent individuals from holding positions for prolonged periods.

The 61st Annual Report of the Auditor General on local government financial management and accountability has revealed serious issues. The report highlights that many local bodies are misusing funds and engaging in corruption and mismanagement. 

Common problems include excessive and unauthorized spending on travel, fuel, mobile phones, vehicles, and hospitality; hiring staff and advisors beyond approved positions; direct procurement without competitive bidding; paying higher wages and allowances than authorized; misuse of disaster relief and social security funds; and lack of proper accounting and documentation for expenses. According to the Auditor General’s report, local officials arbitrarily spent over Rs 185.32m on travel and monitoring, fuel, mobile phones, transportation vehicles, and hospitality.

Many local officials have made arbitrary expenditures on personal secretaries and advisors. The report indicates that 171 local units spent Rs 91.5m on the remuneration and facilities of personal secretaries in the fiscal year 2022/23. Additionally, 424 local units spent Rs 6.92bn on staff appointed on contract. Although local units are allowed to appoint only municipal police, drivers, office assistants, plumbers, electricians, security guards, gardeners, etc., on contract, 229 local bodies hired staff on contract beyond sanctioned positions and paid Rs 1.53bn in salaries and allowances. Furthermore, 625 local units spent Rs 7.22bn without competitive bidding, as required by law. According to Section 8 of the Public Procurement Act, 2006, procurement should be done without limiting competition. Rule 84 of the Regulations stipulates that procurements worth more than Rs 1m should be done through sealed quotations, and those above Rs 2m through sealed tenders.

Rs 1.06bn spent on consultancy services

During 2022/23, 312 local units spent Rs 1.06bn on feasibility studies, detailed project reports, master plan preparation, and other consultancy services. The Public Procurement Act mandates that consultancy services should only be used if the work cannot be performed by available human resources in public bodies. The report states that these local bodies did not maintain records of detailed project reports received from consultants, and most of these study reports were not implemented. The report also reveals that 193 local units spent Rs 186m to procure various computer software and applications without obtaining approval from the Department of Information Technology, as required by law. Twenty-nine of these local units did not utilize the procured software and applications.

During the year, 75 local units spent Rs 3.66bn to procure four-wheelers, and 130 local units spent Rs 207.2m to purchase two-wheelers. Similarly, 264 local units spent Rs 736.7m on vehicle repairs, while 327 local bodies spent Rs 1.56bn on fuel.

Irregularities via consumer committees

Rule 97 of the Public Procurement Regulations, 2007, states that consumer committees should be responsible only for labor-intensive work that does not require machines, tools, or equipment. However, 302 local bodies spent Rs 2.99bn through consumer committees for 3,314 construction works that involved the use of machines and equipment. According to the report, Rule 97(10) of the Public Procurement Regulations, 2007, prohibits consumer committees from using construction companies in projects they manage. Despite this, 122 local units approved cost estimates for 1,173 projects to be implemented through consumer committees and made payments of Rs 700.9m to construction committees.

Series of irregularities in education sector

The report states that 129 local units spent an additional Rs 33.98m on textbook procurement beyond what is recorded in the Education Management Information System (EMIS). Likewise, 101 local units disbursed Rs 24.76m more for scholarships than the amounts recorded in the EMIS. Additionally, 131 local units released Rs 39.76m more for teacher salaries and related facilities than documented in the system. Furthermore, 162 local units spent a total of Rs 1.31bn on teacher salaries and facilities, previously covered by schools through their internal funds. This included payments for teaching positions that were not officially approved.

Poor service delivery

Local units are responsible for providing easy and quality services by ensuring public participation, accountability, and transparency to implement the provisions related to local-level authority. According to the Auditor General’s report, service delivery has been ineffective due to a lack of staff recruitment as per approved positions, inadequate office buildings and other infrastructure, and geographical challenges. The report highlights numerous discrepancies, such as the approval of a large number of small fragmented projects by village/municipal assemblies, the non-implementation of approved projects, and the transfer of project funds to other headings. There is also excessive expenditure on unproductive and distributive programs, non-compliance with procurement laws, and a lack of sustainable planning.

Local bodies not conducting audits

As per Section 20 of the Audit Act, 2018, the accounts of local units should be audited by the Office of the Auditor General. However, the Auditor General’s report has found that many local bodies have not conducted audits. Mechinagar Municipality of Jhapa, Bishnupur Rural Municipality of Saptari, Bariyarpatti Rural Municipality of Siraha, Kabilasi Municipality of Sarlahi, Simraungadh Municipality of Bara, and Chankheli and Adanchuli Rural Municipalities of Humla have not conducted audits for 2022/23. Similarly, Kamala Municipality of Dhanusha, Chinnamasta Rural Municipality of Saptari, and Dhanauji Rural Municipality of Dhanusha have not audited their accounts for 2021/22.

Article 39 of the Constitution of Nepal safeguards the rights of children by completely prohibiting child marriage. The National Penal Code, 2017 has prescribed punishment for those forcing child marriage.

Section 173 of the National Penal Code has prescribed 20 as the legal age of marriage. It states that any marriage below the age of 20 would be scrapped, and a punishment of up to three years and a fine of Rs 30,000 can be handed out in this offense. However, the 2021 Census showed a rather disturbing fact that child marriages are happening all over the country.

The census report shows that a large section of the population got married before they turned 18. Tradition, poverty, dowry, lack of education, and religious and societal pressure are the factors behind growing child marriages. Data shows the rate of child marriage is different depending on geographical regions, educational status, income status of families and ethnicities. Some societies are encouraging child marriages due to societal and religious faiths, the census report shows.

According to the report, the rate of child marriage is high in the Tarai/Madhes region of the country. Twenty districts in the lowlands of Tarai have a high child marriage rate of 42.2 percent. The child marriage rate in the mountainous region is 33.1 percent. Among provinces, Madhesh (42.4 percent) has the highest rate of child marriage, while Sudupraschim (29.1 percent) has the lowest.

Dhanusha (47.5 percent) and Rautahat (47 percent) have the highest rate of child marriage in Madhesh Province. Similarly, the rate of child marriage in other districts of the province is also high—43.3 percent in Mahottari, 42.6 percent in Sarlahi, 42.1 percent in Siraha, 40.2 percent in Bara, 38.1 percent in Parsa, and 34.7 percent in Saptari. Experts say that the rate of child marriage is high in Madhesh Province due to poor economic and social development, poor educational conditions and a high birth rate.

The situation is also disturbing in Karnali Province. According to the census report, 39.9 percent of the population of the province got married before they turned 18. Salyan has the highest child marriage rate of 43.3 percent, followed by Rukum West (42.3 percent), Jajarkot (40.8 percent), Surkhet (38.7 percent), Mugu (35.9 percent), Dailekh (35.2 percent), Jumla (34.7 percent), , Humla (33.7 percent), Dolpa (32.1 percent) and Kalikot (28.1 percent).

Demography Expert and Associate Professor at Tribhuvan University, Dr Padam Prasad Khatiwada, said that the rate of child marriage is high in Karnali and Madhesh provinces because of illiteracy and lack of public awareness. “Along with illiteracy and lack of awareness, dowry is an important factor behind high child marriage rates in Madhes Province,” Dr Khatiwada said. “Because of the high rate of child marriages, maternal and infant mortality rates are also high in these provinces.”

According to Dr Khatiwada, families in Tarai districts are marrying off their daughters at a young age as the society believes the dowry amount goes higher with age.

The literacy rate is also low in Karnali and Madhes. Madhes has a literacy rate of 63.5 percent, compared to the national average of 76.2 percent.

Child marriage rates are comparatively lower in Sudurpaschim (29.1 percent) and Bagmati (29.3 percent) provinces. Kathmandu, the federal capital, has a child marriage rate of 22.8 percent.

According to the census report, 33. percent of Nepal’s population above 10 years of age, or 23.95m, are unmarried. Likewise, 59.1 percent of men and 64.3 percent of women in this age group are married. Similarly, 0.6 percent of this population is divorced, while 5 percent are widows.

According to Nepal Police, 338 cases of child marriage were registered in the last 5 years. Only 52 cases were registered in 2022/23. The highest number of cases was registered in Karnali (16) during the review year, while Gandaki (1) had the lowest.

Impacts of child marriage

Demography expert Dr Khatiwada said that child marriage affects health as well as makes socio-economic impacts. “Child marriage increases maternal and infant mortality rates. Likewise, there are other impacts like problems in reproductive health, gender-based discrimination, financial dependency and disruption in education,” he added.

Statistician and deputy chief of the National Statistics Office (NSO), Dr Hemraj Regmi, said child marriage data were collected on the basis of the age of marriage given by respondents during the 2021 census.

Advocate Sabin Shrestha said child marriage is rampant in different parts of the country due to lack of education and awareness. The law has prescribed strong punishment for those forcing children into marriage, he added.

Shrestha said the trend of elopement weddings was increasing among the young population in the country. “Youngsters are entering into relationships and eloping. There is a risk of them committing suicide if efforts are made to forcefully separate them,” Shrestha said. “Although child marriage is prohibited by law, it is difficult to discourage this trend.”

Nepal Telecom has been incurring a daily loss of around Rs 9m because of its outdated billing processing system. The convergent real time billing system that is currently in use doesn’t account for 10 percent of the total daily call bills, which is around Rs 90m. An official says despite the heavy revenue loss, the telecom management is not in favor of discontinuing the faulty system. In fact, some senior officials in the management are bent on upgrading the existing billing system instead of getting a new one. “With the cost of upgrading the CRTB, the telecom could easily buy the latest system,” says the official. The current billing system was bought from AsianInfo, a China-based telecommunications service provider, and runs on software developed by Oracle. A highly placed source at telecom says that Nepal-based agents for these two companies, Araniko and World Distribution Nepal, have colluded with the senior management officials of the telecom company to continue the existing billing system. It is said Sunil Poudel, the managing director of telecom, and some senior political leaders are also involved in the scheme, so that AsianInfo can continue to provide hardware support. The source tells ApEx that the telecom is planning to allocate Rs 3bn to upgrade its existing billing system. “If you get the latest billing system from the world’s leading company, it should cost not more than Rs 3.5bn,” says the source. “AsianInfo is not even on the list of top telecommunication solution provider companies, so why is this company getting an undue favor?” Although a board meeting of the telecom in July last year had decided to invite a tender for procurement of a billing system, the management has refused to implement the decision. “The current system could crash anytime, but Poudel and other senior officials are not ready to introduce a new billing system,” says the source. “Nepal Telecom is losing billions in revenue due to the vested interest of a few senior officials, politicians and businesspersons.” For now plans to upgrade the existing billing system have been halted at the directive of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The anti-graft body has already conducted its preliminary investigation into potential irregularities that might have taken place when the telecom decided to upgrade the existing billing system. Based on the investigation, the commission has directed the telecom to cease the process of upgrading its billing system. “The commission has instructed Nepal Telecom to follow due procedure and invite a tender for billing system procurement,” says Shyam Prasad Bhandari, spokesperson at the commission.

The CPN (Maoist Center) unveiled its election manifesto last week, where it advocates for a directly elected president and fully proportional election systems. With these propositions, the party says the current governing and electoral systems, embraced by the constitution, are hindrances to Nepal’s growth and stability. And it is not just the Maoist party batting for a new model of government and election. Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, too, has proposed the same thing in its election manifesto. The Maoist Center and Janata Samajbadi have both suggested making amendments to the constitution to introduce presidential and fully proportional election systems. The Nepali Congress, which takes pride in portraying itself as a staunch supporter of parliamentary system of government, has also hinted at amending the constitution in its manifesto to ensure balance of power and prosperity. Constitutional expert Chandrakanta Gyawali says the talk of changing the existing government and voting systems in the election manifestos of these parties smack of the betrayal of the trust people have placed on these political parties. “The parties have barely implemented the constitution since it was promulgated. Where did this talk about amending the constitution come from?” Gyawali adds: “These are the same parties that endorsed the constitution and its provisions. They will be deceiving the voters if they are really considering changing the government and election systems, which have been barely implemented.” The constitution was approved by more than 90 percent members of the Constituent Assembly in 2015. Experts say the constitution is not even 10 years old and it has not been exercised properly to determine whether it is good or not. “To change the system of governance, which was determined by the people of Nepal, will only invite instability. It is the political parties who need to change,” says Nilamber Acharya, one of the drafters of the constitution. “The parties are trying to hide their own incompetence by faulting the constitution and the system of governance.” The Maoist Center has termed the current system of governance a failure and proposed amendments to the constitution to ensure political stability, peace and prosperity. It has also described the current mixed electoral system as costly and corruptible, which has caused disenchantment among the masses. Other political forces like Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), CPN (Unified Socialist) Nepal Independent Party have also claimed that the current constitution is limiting the country from achieving political stability and economic growth. RPP has called for a directly elected prime minister and scrapping federalism, while Unified Socialist has called for doing away with the mixed electoral system. “These are impractical issues that should not be in an election manifesto,” says Gyawali. “An election manifesto should contain those issues that the respective party will do, or things it will improve in the next five years.” Furthermore, in order to amend the constitution, a party must have a two-thirds majority in parliament, which not a single party contesting the November 20 elections is likely to secure. Constitutional expert Bipin Adhikari says the election manifestos of the parties are removed from the current reality and the existing state of affairs. “To amend the constitution, you have to have a strong government, the opposition should also approve of it, and, most importantly, there should be a popular mandate,” says Adhikari. “All these things are impossible with the way these parties are contesting the polls as electoral allies. They are simply trying to confuse the people with the talks about changing the governance and electoral systems.”

On June 19, the Special Court cleared former minister Bikram Pandey and 20 others of the charge of misappropriating more than Rs 2 billion from the Sikta Irrigation Project.

Earlier that month, the same court had exonerated Raj Kumar Rauniyar, former vice-chancellor at Dharan’s BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, in a bribery case. He was caught in his own office with Rs 800,000 in unaccounted for cash.

Similarly, on May 30, the court had given a clean chit to Surendra Bahadur Thapa, assistant attorney at Pokhara-based Public Prosecutor’s Office, on charges of bribery and amassing illegal wealth.

The above verdicts are cases in point of how the Special Court has been acquitting politicians and senior bureaucrats implicated in high-profile bribery and corruption cases.

This trend reportedly started after Srikanta Poudel was appointed the court’s chair along with Ramesh Kumar Pokharel, Yamuna Bhattarai, Shaligram Koirala, Balbhadra Banstola and Khusi Prasad Tharu as members, back in February.

The Thapa-led team started looking into the cases from March 7 and since then, they have passed down 216 not-guilty verdicts against 24 guilty ones.

In the Nepali month of Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April), they ruled on 44 cases, issuing 38 acquittals and eight convictions. The month prior, the bench handed down 36 acquittals and six guilty rulings.

Advocate Srihari Aryal says while there are plenty of malpractices in the judiciary, the high acquittal rate in corruption cases is mainly the result of insubstantial evidence.

“I’m not claiming that our judiciary is free of corruption. In fact, I was part of the team that prepared a report to expose corruption and malpractice in our courts. But in these cases, it is the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority that should be answerable,” he says. “When 90 percent of the registered cases are getting thrown out, shouldn’t the commission, which registered the cases, review its work?”

Aryal adds this is what happens when political appointees run the CIAA. Chargesheets for a high-profile corruption case are filed with weak evidence and the court cannot establish the crime. This isn’t the case when it comes to petty corruption and fraud cases though. Ever since Thapa and his team joined the Special Court, they have issued convictions only in cases related to fake documents. Not only that, the team seems eager to swiftly settle corruption-related cases. On a single day, June 2, for instance, the court issued acquittals on 17 bribery and corruption cases.

Chairperson of Transparency International Nepal Padmini Pradhananga says political appointment of judges is also the reason why corruption in Nepal is entrenched.

“There are reports of corruption and malpractice in the judiciary, but no one is investigating. Corrupt people will continue to escape punishment so long as judges and justices are seen as above the law,” she says.

When the Kamaiya system, traditional slavery, was in practice in Western Nepal, Kamaiyas and Kamlaris—male and female bonded labors respectively—used to get a day off from work only on Maghi, a mid-winter festival celebrated on the first day of the month of Magh of Hindu calendar. It was during the festival that the indentured laborers were exchanged.

On 17 July 2000, the government announced the abolition of slavery in five districts, freeing the former Kamaiyas and Kamlaris. However, the rehabilitation of the former bonded laborers remains incomplete 21 years hence.

“The rehabilitation is unfinished as the announcement was made in haste,” says Shanta Chaudary, a former bonded laborer who is now in the House of Representatives. She says the task will remain incomplete so long as their problems related to poverty and land are not resolved. The remaining tasks of rehabilitation, which now have been entrusted to the local level, seems to have been put on the back burner. The freed Kamaiyas and Kamlaris are demanding the federal government take up the onus.

Chairman of Freed Kamaiya Society (Mukta Kamaiya Society) Pashupati Chaudhary blames the handover of the responsibility to the local government without authority for the failure in reintegration. “The federal government passed on this task to the local government in 2018. But the budget for rehabilitation was released much later,” he says. “Then, the land revenue and land reform offices, which were overseeing rehabilitation, refused to provide data, leading to the freezing of the budget.” 

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The Kamaiyas had to work for landlords without pay. Young folks from poor families were forced to become bonded laborers to a lender when their families failed to repay their loans on time. After becoming bonded, they would get clothes and food for their survival. People from Thaur ethnic groups used to become Kamaiya. This bonded servitude system is against the universal declaration of human rights, among other international conventions and treaties, to which Nepal is a party. It has also been banned by Nepal’s constitution. But the free Kamaiyas are still living a life of struggle on riverbanks, landless squatters’ settlements, and nearby forests.

The system was in practice in Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardiya, Banke and Dang districts. According to government estimates, around 27,570 families of free Kamaiyas need to be rehabilitated.

The Kamaiya Labor (Prohibition) Act (2002) and related Regulations were enacted in 2011. A commission was formed on 1 January 2009 to resolve the rehabilitation of freed Kamaiyas. The freed Kamaiyas were classified into four categories and issued ID cards as a part of the rehabilitation plan. But this process is yet to be completed.

Similarly, the unmarried women of Tharu ethnic group, especially the daughters of Kamaiya family, in western Tarai, were compelled to become Kamlaris. To end this system of lifelong servitude of women, Kamlari Struggle Committee staged a protest demanding elimination of the abominable practice. The government and the struggle reached a 10-point agreement on 28 May 2013. Then on June 27 the same year, the government announced the abolition of Kamalari practice. The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare had then presented the details of 9,490 freed Kamlaris. The government later distributed 11,000 identity cards to the freed Kamlaries.

The Ministry of Land Reforms has now constituted a five-member study team. The committee has been tasked with furnishing details of the progress in rehabilitation, the issues addressed so far, and number and condition of rehabilitated families.