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Terminating Special Benefits Given To Former Prime Ministers, Ministers And So On

Issue 50, December 11, 2011

By KTM Metro Reporter

December 9, 2011: hearing on the public interest case filed by advocate Ram Chandra Poudel, a divisional bench comprising justices Abadhesh Kumar Yadav and Bharat Raj Upreti of the Supreme Court of Nepal has overturned the cabinet decisions made on different dates on providing special benefits to former prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, home ministers, political leaders and former members of the royal family going beyond the provisions made in the Interim Constitution, and instructed the government to provide the benefits following the Interim Constitution of Nepal, and instructed the government of Nepal to immediately stop giving such benefits, and instructed the Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority, and the Auditor General to monitor the enforcement of the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on these matters, ‘gorkhapatra’ of today writes.

The Supreme Court of Nepal ruling has said that special benefits such as house rent, transport vehicles, fuel and drivers given to the former prime ministers and so on by the cabinet decision are illegal. So, these benefits should be terminated from the date of the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal.

The ruling of the supreme Court of Nepal says that the decisions made by the different cabinets on providing former prime ministers and so on have been against the rule of law and against the norms of the fundamental principles of democracy.

The government of Nepal has been providing such special benefits to the dead two former prime ministers according to the news in ‘gorkhapatra’ of today. The souls of dead former prime ministers have been enjoying the special benefits provided by the government. So, it is no wonder that political leaders have been participating in the elections to the position of prime minister several times lingering such elections at least for eight months disregarding the political situation and even their own reputation as leaders. Ultimately, Mr. Jhalanath Khanal got the position of prime minister riding on the shoulders of the Maoists. Thus, he has secured the special benefits even after death if the Supreme Court has not overturned the decisions made by the cabinet on several dates.

The Nepalese prime ministers and ministers have not changed the mindset of the autocratic Rana family rulers that had made their words as the rules rather than following the rule of law; they had used the taxpayers’ money for their private purposes keeping all Nepalis hungry and poor. The current cabinet ministers have been doing almost the same. The Supreme Court of Nepal has made such a historical ruling that ultimately the mindset of those prime ministers and ministers would change. Time will soon come when these prime ministers and ministers will land in jail for making decisions going beyond the constitution.

According to the news published in ‘gorkhapatra’ of today,

Former prime ministers have been receiving Rs 80,000 for the house rent, three vehicles, drivers, and three hundred liters of fuel per month and maintenance cost of vehicles;

Former deputy prime ministers and home ministers: two vehicles with drivers and 200 liters of fuel per month.

Presidents and chairmen of political parties: a vehicle with 150 liters of fuel per month.

Former king Gyanendra Shah: Nagarjun palace, two vehicles with indefinite quantity of fuel.

The government has made available to former prime ministers, ministers and so on six vehicles each costing more than Rs 10 million purchased from the budget of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. Consequently, the project has never taken off despite millions of rupees spent on it every year. Residents of Kathmandu have to live with the supply of water once a week because of such high level corruption in Nepal.

The Supreme Court of Nepal has drawn the attention of the prime minister to the Cabinet Secretary Madhav Ghimire refusing to make available the decisions of the cabinet to the Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA), and instructed the prime minister to issue an warning to the Cabinet Secretary for not making available the cabinet decisions to the CIAA according to the news in the ‘gorkhapatra’ of today.

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