CIAA chief did Abuse of Authority

Kathmandu, March 12 - Chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Surya Nath Upadhyay has been found responsible for his role in providing citizenship to a Ramechhap dweller on false details while he was water resources secretary in 1993 .

ekantipur reports According to police sources, Lok Bahadur Bohara of Ramechhap district had succeeded in obtaining citizenship from Kathmandu District Administration Office on the recommendation of Upadhyay. As per existing legal provisions, one can get citizenship on the recommendation of a special class bureaucrat.

Upadhyay had recommended that he knew Lok Bahadur as the son of Tirtha Bahadur Bohara and citizenship be awarded to him. After 13 years it was revealed that Tirtha Bahadur is not the father of Lok Bahadur as recommended by Upadhyay but an uncle.

The facts remained buried for about 13 years and came to light only after Tirtha Bahadur lodged a complaint with the Kathmandu District Administration and subsequent arrest of Lok Bahadur. Lok Bahadur is now in detention at Kathmandu Police Office.

For 13 years, even Tirtha Bahadur did not know Lok Bahadur had became his "son". To the surprise of Tirtha, Lok Bahadur as a "son" began to claim a share of his property.

According to investigations of the Kathmandu District Administration Office, the citizenship is a fake one and has recommended the Home Ministry to nullify the citizenship. But the Ministry had maintained that it could nullify the citizenship only after actions are taken against the recommenders. The ministry has now forwarded the case to the Kathmandu District Police for further investigation and action against the recommender.

If the charges are proved, CIAA chief will face five years imprisonment as per existing legal provisions.

It may be recalled that Upadhyay as the chief of the constitutional anti-graft body had taken action against a government lawyer in Kapilbastu on charge of not taking legal action against officials involved in fake citizenship scams. Similar action was taken against former Chief District Officer of Chitwan Khem Raj Nepal for awarding citizenship on false details. Khem Raj Nepal later, quit his job as chief of Guthi Sansthan following the action of the CIAA headed by Upadhyay.

On his part, Upadhyay, when contacted Saturday night over phone, said, "I have to go through the documents first before commenting."