KATHMANDU, March 22: Coming up with the conclusion that a Special Court verdict acquiting former government secretary Chakra Bandhu Aryal of corruption charges was a serious mistake and blatant violation of established legal norms, the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered reopening of the corruption case.
A division bench of SC Justices Balaram KC and Abadesh Kumar Yadav said the Special Court had distorted the facts while deciding to nullify the corruption case filed against Aryal by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The Special Court had nullified the case filed against Aryal, former ministers and dozens of former officials, citing statute of limitations.
The SC said the CIAA filed the case invoking provisions of the Corruption Control Act-2017 BS but the Special Court cited the CIAA Act-2048 BS to nullify the case.
"It has been found that the Special Court nullified corruption case without going into its merits. The court also distorted facts as claimed by the CIAA. This is a serious mistake by the court. The case must be reopened," the SC order says, adding, "The bench hereby orders the authorities to present Aryal before the SC for further hearings in the case."
SC said the Special Court misinterpreted the charge sheet filed by the CIAA and in doing so went beyond and against the spirit of legal provisions.
The SC has also raised serious questions about the competence of the then Special Court judges. "Judges of the Special Court are found to have ignored to verify evidence in the corruption case from their end, although such verification is a must under existing law. This is not an ordinary mistake," states the order, adding, "The Special Court´s verdict will reduce people´s faith in an independent judiciary. Thus the verdict has to be taken seriously."
The SC further said that serious mistakes committed by the then Special Court judges must be studied from the Chief Justice level, given the gravity of the mistakes.
"The Chief Justice is also chairman of the Judicial Council [the body authorized to appoint or punish judges]. Making the judicial administration an effective mechanism has become an urgent issue at present. Thus, the authorities are asked to provide a copy of this order to the Chief Justice also," the order further states.
An order issued by a division bench of the SC will affect other cases pending at the apex court. The CIAA had filed an application at the SC seeking review of Special Court decisions after the latter either nullified corruption cases against former ministers and officials or acquitted them.
As per the provision of the Corruption Control Act-2017, the CIAA is required to file corruption cases at the Special Court within two years of beginning investigations into a given case. The CIAA Act-2048 BS states that the anti-graft body has to file case at the Special Court within a year of starting such investigations.
Despite the fact that the CIAA filed cases against the former ministers and officials as per the Corruption Control Act-2017 BS, the Special Court cited the CIAA Act-2048 and nullified a number of corruption cases filed by the national anti-graft body including the one against Aryal.
Corruption cases filed against former ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka, Govinda Raj Joshi and Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta, three former police chiefs and some other former high ranking government officials were nullified by the Special Court on the ground that the CIAA had filed the cases two years after their retirement.
Cases relating to possession of property disproportionate to known sources of income and involving dozens of former ministers and officials were filed at the Special Court under the Corruption Control Act 2017 BS.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=29459
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