Nepal

Kathmandu, July 25

Bribe solicitation by police officials continues to pose a threat to free and fair criminal investigation despite frequent sting operations conducted by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.

The anti-graft body arrested two sub-inspectors red-handed while receiving a bribe of Rs 48,000 from a service-seeker last night. This is the third time police personnel have been held with graft amount in less than a week.

CIAA Spokesperson Joint Secretary Pradeep Kumar Koirala said Ramesh Bahadur Pandey and Raju Swarnakar of Gaushala-based Metropolitan Police Circle were caught red-handed while receiving bribe money on the premises of Kabeli Transportation Service Pvt Ltd in Kathmandu.

The sub-inspectors duo had sought the bribe for speedy settlement of cases lodged with MPC under Some Public (Crime and Punishment) Act, 1997.

On Monday, the CIAA arrested assistant sub-inspector Prem Bahadur Thapa of Bagaha Police Post, Rupandehi, with a bribe of Rs 3,500 that he had received from a businessman, promising to facilitate him in the sale and distribution of hardware goods. According to the anti-graft body, ASI Thapa had threatened to jeopardise his business if the businessman did not pay him the kickback.

Likewise, Constable Bharat Katuwal of Sunsari was arrested red-handed while receiving a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a transport entrepreneur. The traffic cop wanted the transport entrepreneur to pay him money for easy movement of a Kathmandu-Kakadbhitta bus.

Of late, public offices have been alerted against sting operations being stepped up by the CIAA by strengthening the information analysis unit to pursue reform, transparency and good governance in service delivery.

The anti-graft body said one person was arrested with bribe on an average of 2.07 work days during the fiscal 2018-19. It arrested and prosecuted 200 persons, including 161 government employees, during the period, the highest number in a fiscal.

Of the government employees, 33 were police personnel ranging from a deputy superintendent of police to constables. The CIAA warned that the arrest of highest number of government employees with bribe in the fiscal 2018-19 indicated the need for the CIAA to make more efforts to curb corruption and bribery in the public sector.

Persons involved in bribery are charged under Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case of government employees, while others working as their accomplices face action as per Sub-Section (2) of Section 3 of the same law at the Special Court.

A government employee convicted of bribery may be sent to jail for a term of up to 10 years, besides being disqualified to hold any government position in future.

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Kathmandu, July 25

The Supreme Court has ordered the Judicial Council to take action against three judges of Pokhara High Court for passing orders in a case that was not under their jurisdiction.

Those Pokhara High Court Judges who will face JC action include Jiwan Hari Adhikari, Nara Bahadur Shahi and Ramchandra Yadav. The order was passed by a single bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana yesterday.

According to Information Officer of the Supreme Court Devendra Dhakal, the SC stayed the interim order passed by the single and division benches of Pokhara High Court and ordered the Judicial Council to take action against the three judges for acting beyond their jurisdiction in a case filed by Gorkha Brewery against the imposition of excise duty by a Bharatpur based Inland Revenue Office.

A single bench of Pokhara High Court Ram Chandra Yadav first issued an interim order in the case which was endorsed by the division bench of Jiwan Hari Adhikari and Nara Bahadur Shahi. Ranabench stayed the interim order passed by Pokhara High Court.

A SC source said Gorkha Brewery should have registered its writ petition at Patan High Court or its Hetauda bench, which falls under Province 3, but it filed its case at Pokhara High Court, which falls under Gandaki province.

Bharatpur Inland Revenue Office had challenged the Pokhara High Courtorder in the SC, arguing the High Courtorder was erroneous as it had acted beyond its jurisdiction. The SC is yet to prepare the written text of its order.

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Kathmandu, July 25

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli sent a congratulatory message to the newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.

In his message, the prime minister extended his best wishes to Johnson for his successful tenure as well as for the continued peace, progress and prosperity of the people of UK.

PM Oli also recalled his recent visit to UK and a meeting he had held with the outgoing PM Theresa May on important bilateral matters. He expressed his willingness to work closely with his British counterpart to further cement Nepal-UK bilateral ties, states a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also sent a message of congratulations to Dominic Raab, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom. In his message, Gyawali expressed confidence that Nepal-UK friendship would continue to make further strides during Raabtenure.

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• Schools that enrol foreign students in Thailand must meet two requirements. They must obtain non-immigrant ED (education) visas. Secondly, schools must be approved by the education ministry on a case-by-case basis to admit foreign students on national security grounds

Kathmandu, July 25

The Office of the Private Education Commission of Thailand, a wing of the Thai Ministry of Education, has said that Bangkok-based International Hotel and Airline Business School (I-HABS), which duped Nepali students with the promise of providing hotel management training, had not received permission from the ministry to enrol foreign students.

I-HABS, registered with the Thai government to provide tourism, airlines and hospitality courses in 1993, has acknowledged its mistake, according to the Bangkok Post. &We did not think that was important,& said I-HABS Managing Director Sunil Khadka. &We had decided to get permission from Thai authorities by the time students graduated. But I acknowledge the mistake and we should have informed Thai authorities about intake of foreign students within 45 days of their arrival.&

Schools that enrol foreign students in Thailand must meet two requirements. &They must obtain non-immigrant ED (education) visas. Secondly, schools must be approved by the education ministry on a case-by-case basis to admit foreign students on national security grounds,& OPEC Secretary-general Chalam Attham told the Bangkok Post, adding, &The commission will soon set up a committee to gather and verify the facts. It will take a few days before we can proceed with the case and decide whether it violates the Private School Act.&

The OPEC formed a team to probe the case this week after I-HABS was found to have duped 14 Nepali students.

These 14 students had enrolled in I-HABS located at Ramintra Road in Bangkok for an eight-month training and internship in hotel management. I-HABS is run by Khadka, Sujan Basnet, who is its director, and Siriwuth Wuthisuwanwat, a Thai national who is its president.

It used to collect around $3,500 from each Nepali student and provide false promise of training in a glitzy environment and internship at four- to five-star hotels. But students were housed in a shoddy four-storey building, which doubled up as training centre without any necessary equipment. &There was a kitchen on the first floor and classes were conducted on the second floor. There was a girls& hostel on the third floor and boys& hostel on the fourth floor,& a student said on condition of anonymity. &The school had set up its reception in a small space in the middle of a staircase.&

The students also found that the courses they were offered were not similar to what had been pledged. All of the 14 students returned to Nepal within three months of arrival in Bangkok after they could not cope with subpar living and working conditions.

Panisha Chaichanakul, the wife of I-HABS MD Khadka, refuted these claims. She told the Bangkok Post that the schoolfacilities and course in hotel management were not below standard.

&I admit some students were not satisfied with the schoolfacilities and instructors. I got complaints that our training centre was too small and our teaching was not good enough. However, I insist private schools for non-formal education are like this because we are not colleges,& she said, adding, &We also gave them weekly food budgets.&

But one of the students, who was duped, told THT that 10 students were given a total of 1,500 baht (approximately Rs 5,300) as weekly food allowance. &The money was sufficient to buy food for only three to four days,& the student said.

A video released by students to explain their sordid experience shows them saying they did not have money for food and there were no medical facilities. They also said their passports had been seized.

• Thai group dupes four more Nepali students
• Nepali embassy in Bangkok brokers a ‘dubious deal&

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