The Supreme Court (SC) hushed up a seven-month old letter from the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) that sought an investigation into alleged abuse of authority by former apex court Registrar Ram Krishna Timilsena, it has been revealed.
Responding to a complaint filed by SC employees on May 29, 2011, the anti-graft body had on July 12, 2011 issued the letter (Ref No 1219) to the SC asking it to investigate the allegations. The SC, however, has no record of the CIAA letter.
The case came to light only a couple of days ago when the staffers who had lodged the complaint approached the Post and revealed the documents.
The SC employees said the CIAA letter may have been dumped, immediately after it reached the registrar’s office. Generally, important letters addressed to the apex court first reach the registrar’s table before they are registered and processed.
The employees had complained that the registrar was involved
in a number of irregularities, including while procuring computers and vehicles and transferring staffers in breach of the law. Another equally serious charge includes the appointment of his cousin by the same surname as the chief of the IT department based on his “fake” education certificates.
CIAA officials say that since it is a case concerning the judiciary, which is outside their jurisdiction, they had redirected it back to the court and asked it to carry out an internal probe. “We can only ask the court to investigate the case,” said CIAA Spokesman Ishwori Paudyal.
Former Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha admitted there had been complaints. “When I received a complaint that one of the [temporary] staffers had been appointed on the basis of fake certificates, I called and asked him to submit his original certificates. He, however, immediately resigned,” Shrestha told the Post.
Timilsena, however, refuted the allegations. “He worked in the SC for around 10 to 11 months as a staff on a contract basis and for about one-and-a-half years as consultant. His certificates were not fake,” Timilsena said, when asked to comment on the complaints.
The staffers who complained at the CIAA argued that the case cannot be hushed up even if the staff and officials in questions have retired or resigned. “At a time when the apex court has been hearing corruption cases with priority, it is all the more important to clear the internal mess, small or big,” said a court official.
Asked about the case, Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi said he was unaware of it and that he will look into it. “I cannot say anything right away as I am not aware of it. It seems to be an issue of the past,” Regmi told the Post.
Posted on: 2012-03-03 09:14 at www.Ekantipur.com (The Kathmandu Post online)
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