KATHMANDU, Dec 21: Attorney General Basanta Ram Bhandari gave his consent to initiate investigation against newly elected lawmaker Nawaraj Silwal over his controversial involvement in submitting false performance evaluation report to the Supreme Court earlier this year.
Stating that the full text of verdict issued by the Supreme Court in response to a writ petition filed by Silwal demanding his promotion to the post of Nepal Police chief has clearly directed the government to probe into the case, the AG gave his nod to investigate into the matter as per the SC verdict.
“The Attorney General granted his consent go ahead with the investigation when consulted with him Tuesday,” a highly-placed source at the Office of the Attorney General told Republica. Some police investigators had met AG Bhandari in order to discuss the matter and to seek his advice on whether or not to move ahead with the case.
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Silwal recently won a parliamentary seat from Lalitpur-1 representing the CPN-UML but a complaint was filed against him at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Kathmandu on Wednesday.
In its full text, the apex court has stated that the performance evaluation report was erroneous and had directed the government authorities to investigate into who were involved in submitting the falsified report with different marks obtained by Silwal and how the process was carried out.
“Let the concerning authorities investigate in order to find out who were involved, and how, in tampering the work performance evaluation report and take action accordingly,” the bench had ruled.
The apex court had quashed Silwal's petition on September 12 but the full text of judgment was made public only last Thursday. It stated that tampering the secret document, copies of which were supposed to be kept with various authorities such as Public Service Commission, was a serious crime.
According to sources, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently directed the attorney general and senior police officials to implement the order of the Supreme Court at the earliest.
Advocate Tikaram Bhattarai, who had argued on behalf of Silwal at the Supreme Court, has claimed that AG Bhandari has violated the order of the apex court by giving his consent to proceed with the investigation against Silwal.
“Silwal's name has not been mentioned in the judgment. Therefore, investigation cannot take place against him,” he added.
“The attorney general has been biased against Silwal and it is a misuse of his constitutional position,” Bhattarai said, adding, “No one can treat Silwal as criminal before he is proven guilty.”
