Just when the Property Investigation Commission was getting started digging up the illegal wealth of thousands of our hakims and netas, our Jholey Supreme Court has decided to pause the whole damng thing to slow down the investigation process.
Our justices are mostly party cadres of our old political parties, and some of them still don't get it that the mili-juli loot sarkars will not come back anytime soon. Justices Tek Prasad Dhungana and Shreekanta Poudel have issued an interim order basically telling the commission to shut up and sit down and stop causing unnecessary headache to our poor hakims and netas!
It seems that this Balen government wants to move towards transparency, while our courts want us to go back to the old system where hakims and netas make illegal money on the side while acting like they are serving the nation!
The Supreme Court thinks that if the investigation continues, then it will cause "irreparable legal consequences" and harm our hakims and netas! I guess our justices don't want our retired hakims and former judges to suffer from deep psychological trauma when they have to explain how they managed to build mansions in Kathmandu and villas in Pokhara with their modest sarkari talab!
I guess these two justices really value the right to privacy, for the corrupt ones, and want to follow Article 28 of the Constitution, which looks like it guarantees the fundamental right to hide your illegal assets under your driver's cousin's name. I guess asking for financial receipts seems to be the true crime, while hiding your illegal wealth is protected by the highest court in our land!
The Commission, under another retired justice Rajendra Kumar Bhandari, had been collecting information on assets of our former hakims and netas until the court decided to hit the golden pause button. So far, more than 13,660 asset declarations and 1,500 public complaints have been filed with the Commission! They were planning to dig deep into the well of corruption going back teen pustey to track down illegal wealth stashed with spouses, relatives, personal assistants, cousins, and drivers, and someone in Dolpa who has never left his village!
Many of our so-called thulo mancheys, like former PMs and Army Chiefs, had submitted their property details to the Commission. But for now, these 13,000+ files will be locked away and unexamined so that accountability takes a back seat! The files will be gathering dust while a full bench decides whether to allow the Commission to move forward or go home in the future.
But let us not lose hope. The Commission's work may be suspended for now, but the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has been examining legal remedies to ensure that the anti-corruption efforts do not hit a brick wall.
I think our justices at the Supreme Court or all other courts down the alley should realize that this is a new new Nepal and since no political 'afno manchey' will be appointed in Balen Sarkar's regin, their time is slowly coming to an end. They better fasten their belts and do what is right, or else they too will face the music in the days to come.
Do not try to protect your fellow corrupt brothers and sisters, or else we will all lose hope in our judiciary. Do not pass judgment based on your affiliation with the old political parties. Please do remember that your decisions will either help this country move forward or take it back to the 'loot' system we have endured for the past three decades!
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