Acting Chief Justice (CJ) Deepak Kumar Karki has told the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) that it can investigate irregularities in contract process for the under-construction building of the Supreme Court (SC).
The constitutional anti-graft body had asked the SC about the matter sometime back after receiving complaints about irregularities in the contract process that was finalized when Cholendra Shumsher Rana was the CJ.
“We had asked the SC about it after receiving complaints. SC registrar sent a letter at that time opining that the CIAA cannot investigate the issue as CJ was involved in the decision,” a CIAA commissioner told Setopati.
The commissioner revealed that the private secretariat of CJ Karki has recently written to the CIAA asking about the state of investigation in the contract worth Rs 5.587 billion. “Interest has again been showed asking the state of investigation now. We have understood that there are two kinds of position after receiving acting CJ’s letter saying the issue of constructing building is an issue that CIAA should investigate,” the commissioner added.
SC Spokesperson Bimal Paudel also confirmed that Acting CJ Karki’s secretariat wrote a letter to the CIAA but expressed ignorance about the content of letter.
The SC had given the contract to Kalika Construction and Samanantar Nirman Sewa. The CIAA had received complaints about irregularities in the contract process.
