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Former prime minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal cut short his Europe visit to return home after the Supreme Court ordered the authorities to investigate all individuals whose names have been associated in the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

Upon arrival, Nepal told the media that he decided to return to quell the rumor that he fled the country to avoid investigation. He also claimed that he had not taken any bribe when his Cabinet took some decisions concerning the Lalita Niwas property, and that he was willing to help with the investigation. 

The SC order has opened the way for the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police to investigate the alleged roles of Nepal and another former prime minister, Baburam Bhattarai, in the land misappropriation case. Publicly, top leaders including Nepal have expressed their support to the ongoing investigation. But as more and more politicians are coming under the investigation, top leaders of major political parties are reportedly trying to sabotage the probe.

Soon after returning home, Unified Socialist leader Nepal was involved in a series of meetings with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. In these meetings, Nepal reportedly expressed objection over the SC ruling to investigate the former prime ministers and high level government officials. 

Nepal, who believes that the ongoing investigation is ‘politically motivated,’ also held a one-on-one meeting with Deuba. Earlier this week, Deuba also held a meeting with Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who has so far maintained that the ongoing investigation into corruption cases should not and will not be influenced by any political party.

Likewise, former prime minister Bhattarai has also expressed displeasure over the SC order. A few days back, he said that there should be an investigation into the alleged corruption that took place during the management of the Maoist cantonment after the party entered the peace process. Of course, Bhattarai was referring to Prime Minister Dahal, chairman of the ruling CPN (Maoist Center). 

The anti-corruption drive launched by the Dahal-led government has sent shockwaves inside major political parties.  As more and more politicians are being dragged into corruption cases, a silent consensus is building among the parties to retard and eventually drop the investigation.  

NC President Deuba in particular is under immense pressure from his party members to protect them from CIB investigation. Congress senior leader and former home minister, Bal Krishna Khand, is already under police custody for his alleged role in the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal. CPN-UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi is also under arrest in connection to the same case.

More recently, NC lawmaker Sunil Sharma was also arrested in a case of fake academic certificate distribution. Many NC leaders believe that Prime Minister Dahal has been selectively targeting Congress by opening corruption probes. NC President Deuba, in his recent meeting with Dahal, expressed dissatisfaction over the CIB probe into the fake refugee case and suggested transferring some investigating officers.

The main opposition, UML, has also accused the Dahal government of selectively opening old corruption files to its leaders. A few days back, UML Chairman KP Oli said that Prime Minister Dahal was adopting a ‘Pakistani model’ of arresting opposition leaders on trumped-up corruption charges. 

The ongoing probe into corruption scandals is also gradually creating distance among the ruling coalition partners. The Unified Socialist has already expressed dissatisfaction and is seeking intervention to prevent investigation against its chair Nepal. A rift is also developing between the NC and the Maoists. 

Some NC leaders have even suggested that the party leadership should reconsider its participation in the government, if Dahal continues to target Congress leaders. The NC currently holds nine ministries in the coalition government. However, there is a growing belief among NC leaders and members that the party's influence within the government is waning. Some leaders say that the party should consider forming a new government by aligning with the UML.  

Another coalition partner, the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), has also expressed discontent with the government following the decision to initiate investigations into the 2007 Gaur massacre. Though Prime Minister Dahal later assured to halt the investigation, the JSP remains unconvinced.

The anti-corruption scandal took a new turn after a recent ruling by the apex court concerning the Lalita Niwas land grab scandal placed the ruling coalition in a precarious position. In its Aug 7 ruling to probe everyone involved in the Lalita Niwas land grab case, the Supreme Court said that initiating action only against those government officials who executed decisions while sparing the ones who made those decisions would be unjust. The court has ordered the law enforcement agency concerned to investigative the case from the top down. Along with former prime ministers Nepal and Bhattarai, the SC ruling has also paved the way for the CIB to investigate four former ministers and a number of former secretaries.

Meanwhile, the ruling Maoist party itself has found itself in a fix, as its leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara has been dragged into the July 20 gold trafficking case. The main opposition, UML, has demanded for a separate high-level committee to investigate the case. Some leaders within the Nepali Congress have also supported the idea of forming an independent probe panel. But Home Minister Shrestha, from the Maoist party, has said that the CIB itself will look into the case.

Prime Minister Dahal is being criticized for reportedly trying to protect Mahara by refusing to form an independent panel to investigate the gold smuggling case.    

Quotes

KP Sharma Oli: “The government has initiated the politics of revenge. Though the arrest of some individuals is a normal thing, the government is adopting the Pakistani model of politics. If someone speaks against the government, they are arrested on some pretext.”

Baburam Bhattarai: “I am ready to cooperate with the government agencies on Lalita Niwas case. We should form a high-level investigation panel and all corruption-related scandals should be investigated in a fair way. But the government should not use the corruption file as a tool to terrorize political opponents.”  

Madhav Kumar Nepal: “There should be a fair and impartial investigation and I am ready to fully cooperate with the government agencies. I am not involved in any bribery so I am not nervous about it.”

The Supreme Court has concluded that the Tikapur incident took place under the leadership of Resham Chaudhary.

It has been mentioned in the full text of the Tikapur incident released by the Supreme Court that Chaudhary was the mastermind of the incident based on various facts. 

The apex court had issued the verdict in the Tikapur incident on May 16, 2021.

The Court has said that a group led by Chaudhary killed at least eight people, mostly security personnel including a Senior Superintendent of Police, by attacking them with stones, axes, spears and home-made weapons in an inhumane manner during the Tharuhat movement. Later, they burnt the bodies by pouring kerosene and petrol.

Saying that the mob attacked 36 police personnel with an intention to kill and also took the life of a child, the SC said that the defendant Resham Lal Chaudhary's alleged crime was confirmed beyond reasonable doubt.

On May 28, 2023, President Ramchandra Paudel, on the government’s recommendation, pardoned Chaudhary’s remaining jail term on the occasion of Republic Day, 10 days after the apex court issued the verdict to hand him down a life sentence.

The CPN (Maoist Center) has sought suggestions from experts in the related field with the aim of instilling confidence to do something within the country.

Organizing an interaction with the theme of ‘Country’s economic development model and development program’ here, the Finance and Planning Department of the party has called for suggestions from experts in sectors including agriculture, tourism, energy, water resources, information technology, physical infrastructure, water resources, engineering and commerce for the government to improve the current economic situation of the country.

On the occasion, the party department chief and former Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun stressed the need for stopping the outflow of qualified manpower to foreign countries by creating job opportunities especially through industrialization at home. It is getting late to go for a policy to utilize the manpower within the home country.

Similarly, claiming that many plans of the previous five-year plans failed, Vice Chairperson of the National Planning Commission Min Bahadur Shrestha called for bringing quality in the new plan. High ambitious plans should not be included in the coming 16th Plan learning from past failure, he viewed.

A report involving the suggestions collected will be handed to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said the department member and economist DP Dhakal.

CPN (Maoist Center) General Secretary Dev Gurung returned home from China on Thursday.

Gurung, who had left for the northern neighbor to arrange Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s China visit, returned home by the Tibet Airlines flight today.

According to a source, Prime Minister Dahal sent him to China to discuss possible agendas of his China visit.

Gurung returned home after holding discussions with the leaders of the Chinese Community Party and diplomatic agencies.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said that Prime Minister Dahal will visit China after wrapping up his India visit. But at the last hour, the Prime Minister has decided to visit China after the US visit.

Prime Minister Dahal will leave for the US on September 16.

He will leave for New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly on that day.

Prime Minister Dahal will leave for China on September 21 after addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

It has been learnt that Prime Minister Dahal will meet the President, Prime Minister and the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during his China visit.

The Prime Minister has been saying that there will be a power trade agreement during the visit.

He said that an agreement has already been made to connect the cross border transmission line in Rasuwa-China border.

Maoist Vice-Chairman Agni Sapkota had left for China before Dev Gurung.