Finance Secy Khanal resigns

KATHMANDU, March 30: In a dramatic development, Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal suddenly tendered his resignation Tuesday. According to an aide, Khanal cited differences with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary in his resignation letter.

Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire did not accept the resignation, and instead, sent him on a leave for 15 days. “Secy Khanal is on leave and will rejoin the office after two weeks,” Ghimire told Republica.

However, sources close to Khanal said that the chances of his resuming office are slim.

Khanal has been pushing for action against fake VAT receipt racketeers and for checking financial crimes. He had also been strongly pushing for corrective measures to control asset-bubble and reinvigorate the economy.

Clearly, his actions had earned him many enemies and mostly the VAT evadors and others had been lobbying to remove him as an obstacle.

“In such a situation, the deputy prime minister and finance minister showed duplicity. This hurt him the most,” the aide said.

In public, Adhikary always expressed his full support to the campaign against tax evadors and financial criminals.

“But in the political circle and to businessmen, Adhikary portrayed Khanal as ´major obstacle,” the aide said.

Minister Adhikary, meanwhile, said he was unaware of Khanal´s action. “I have not met him today. So, I don´t know anything,” he stated.

When Republica asked about his differences with Khanal, he just said, “How could I have differences if I have not met him today.” He refused to talk any further.

Khanal´s day

8:30 am - Khanal was scheduled to hold a meeting with joint secretaries at 8:30 am at the ministry but he skipped the meeting. Everyone was surprised because he would never miss such meetings.

10:30 am - Khanal visited the office of Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire and put in his papers. Ghimire was shocked. He requested Khanal to reconsider his decision. When Khanal refused, Ghimire asked him to take a 15-day leave.

Again, Khanal refused to take leave. When Ghimire refused to accept his resignation, Khanal walked out saying he was in a hurry and would call him in the evening.

11:00 am - Khanal entered his office and ordered a tea. Joint secretaries and other staff were already there. He announced that he was exhausted due to too much work and needed some rest. He thanked the MoF staff for their support.

11:30 - Khanal picked up a hand bag made of jute and walked out of the office. Eyewitnesses said Khanal left Singha Durbar on foot as he had already handed over the key of the government vehicle to the storekeeper before entering the office. He took a taxi to get home.