Bowing to the demand of Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, ministers Rajendra Mahato, Bal Krishna Khand and Mahendra Raya Yadav, among others, the cabinet decided to consult legal experts on whether the government can probe the irregularities simultaneously with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). [break]
CIAA, the constitutional anti-graft body, is currently investigating the previous deal following a directive from the State Affairs Committee of the parliament.
“The [key] ministers were of the view that the investigation of the CIAA alone will not be credible. And, no one should be given immunity in such a serious case that has defamed the country in the international community,” said the cabinet minister on condition of anonymity. “The government is consulting legal experts on Wednesday.”
The government is under pressure to procure new lot of APCs urgently to prevent possible repatriation of the Nepali blue helmets deployed in Darfur, Sudan by the UN Department of the Peacekeeping Operation as they have been working without APCs.
The cabinet meeting on Tuesday was called exclusively to take decision on purchasing new APCs but could not despite its two meetings -- one in the morning and the other in the evening.
The cabinet meeting in the morning discussed a proposal of Home Minister Bhim Rawal to procure APCs invoking clause 67 of the Public Procurement Act. But the cabinet rejected it and asked Rawal to bring another amended proposal at the evening meeting.
Clause 67 states, "If the government of Nepal decides that procurement relating to security, strategic or defense by application of the process in accordance with this act is not appropriate for the interest of national security or defense or if as per the agreement between government of Nepal and donor party, procurement is to be made in accordance with the Procurement Guidelines of the donor party."
Rawal had sought cabinet´s approval to procure APCs through the decision of an embassy abroad invoking Clause 67 claiming that the deal couldn´t be dragged into controversy in future.
But Rawal´s proposal was rejected after it was objected by the prime minister and ministers Surendra Pandey and Dr Minendra Rijal. They said such procurements will not be transparent and invite controversy.
Govt mulls new anti-graft body
Concerned over growing corruption cases, the cabinet has felt a need for setting up a separate anti-corruption mechanism at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. Accordingly, the cabinet meeting on Tuesday directed Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire to do homework to set up such a mechanim that will be similar to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of India.
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