KATHMANDU, July 15: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed at the Supreme Court (SC) seeking the removal of the finance and revenue secretaries who have been accused of helping former finance minister Janardan Sharma to delete the CCTV footage, violating state secrecy and affecting the economy.
Advocates Baburam Aryal, Saroj Krishna Ghimire, Shishir Kumar Yadav and Bina Yadav filed a joint PIL in this regard. The litigation has been filed against the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, District Administration Office, Police Headquarters, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar and former finance minister Janardan Sharma.
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In the writ petition registered on Thursday, the petitioners claim that the act of suppressing the incident by illegally deleting the CCTV footage in a sensitive body like the Ministry of Finance and erasing the evidence is against the national interest, public safety, and is a serious violation of the rule of law.
The writ petitioners also demand that Finance Secretary Marasini and Revenue Secretary Pushkar be separated from their assigned responsibilities as the evidence may be destroyed and the investigation may be adversely affected if they are kept in their posts. They have demanded necessary order from the court to answer constitutional and legal questions and make the body concerned accountable.
It is also mentioned that data of the CCTV footage should be stored for one month in business centers and three months in sensitive infrastructure. An interim order has been sought to store the data of CCTV cameras on the Singha Durbar premises, including the Ministry of Finance and other ministries, indefinitely until the final settlement of the writ petition.
"The court should issue appropriate orders to the body concerned to take action if the CCTV camera installed at the Ministry of Finance and its entire system is procured against the law after examining the claim and reality of the Ministry by taking the documents related to the procurement process of the CCTV cameras," the writ petition said. They have demanded an order to investigate and take the required action as it is against the law to delete the records taken by CCTV before the time stipulated by the law.
