Almost a year ago, CPN-UML, the then main opposition party, had demanded a high-level judicial commission to look into the involvement of influential leaders of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) in gold smuggling.

Nepali Congress, then a main partner of the coalition government, had rejected such a demand.

Now the UML, the senior partner in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led coalition, has rejected outright the demand of Congress, now the main opposition party, to form a parliamentary investigation committee against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane, who is accused of embezzling cooperative funds.

The UML last year obstructed parliamentary proceedings for about a month as its demand was rejected by the ruling parties in the initial phase. At the time, the Congress fiercely criticised the UML for disrupting the House businesses, insisting on the panel’s formation.

Now, the Congress, which continued its protests during the winter session of Parliament before it was prorogued on April 14, has warned of obstructing the new session of Parliament should the committee not be constituted.

The new session of Parliament, which will pass the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, is scheduled to commence on Friday.

However, UML leaders claim that their demand for the judicial investigation commission last year and the Congress’ demand for the parliamentary probe committee this time around are not the same.

Many suspected the involvement of powerful people in gold smuggling, the UML leader said. “Therefore, we demanded a judicial probe commission independent of the state apparatus. Our demand was perfect; Congress leaders later admitted it and expressed their gratitude for our stance,” said UML leaders.

Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa, addressing the House last month, thanked UML leaders for their demand for a judicial committee to investigate the gold smuggling episode.

“The Congress has shown its double standard regarding Home Minister Lamichhane,” UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula told the Post. “Their leaders participated in parliamentary committee meetings where the home minister was present and addressed them. Why don’t they allow him to address the plenum of the same parliament?”

In a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on Wednesday, Home Minister Lamichhane was present. He appeared before the committee also on March 28 and denied the allegations against him while responding to the questions raised by lawmakers. The committee is led by Congress lawmaker Ramhari Khatiwada.

The views of the accused person need to be heard before forming any committee to probe him, argued Bartaula. However, the Congress leaders say they have already listened to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Parliament defending Lamichhane and they are not satisfied with it. Thus the stance, they argue.

“If their demand for a probe committee is honoured, the Congress will seek the home minister’s resignation to make the government unstable,” Bartaula said.

Congress leaders want to make the parliamentary committee against the home minister a precondition for the smooth sailing of the new session of Parliament. Congress leaders argue that the judicial investigation commission earlier demanded by the UML and the parliamentary probe they want to constitute are different.

Lamichhane has been linked with the cooperatives' embezzlement cases currently in Kaski and Rupandehi district courts. However, the state apparatus has undermined the cases and is trying to prove him innocent, Congress leaders argue.

High-ranking officials including Prime Minister Dahal and Inspector General of Police Basanta Bahadur Kunwar have defended Lamichhane arguing that he is not guilty. Lately, the Attorney General’s office also has tried to prove him innocent, Congress leaders allege.

“Despite the police reports which suggest Home Minister Lamichhane was involved in the cooperative scam, the whole state apparatus is trying to prove him innocent,” Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Congress spokesperson told the Post. “Therefore, our demand for a probe committee becomes all the more important.”

From July 19 last year, the UML disrupted parliamentary meetings demanding a high-level probe into gold smuggling saying that the role of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police was not sufficient. But the ruling parties, including the Congress, at the time insisted that there was no need for another committee while the state agencies are competent enough to investigate and expose the wrong-doers, even if they are senior leaders.

The UML, however, doubted the police investigation saying it wouldn’t be able to reach the masterminds of the gold haul claiming that police would have a slimmer chance to interrogate influential people of the ruling parties. After a serious discussion to lift the obstruction of Parliament, the government bowed to the pressure and formed a judicial committee on August 22 to probe gold smuggling following the Commission of Inquiry Act 1969. Dilli Raj Acharya, a former high court chief judge, led the commission.

The commission submitted its report after studying the lapses in police investigation into the scam that involved the smuggling of 60kg gold by hiding the precious metal in motorcycle brake shoe imports. It also looked into another scam wherein 9kg of gold was smuggled by concealing it in electronic cigarettes in December 2022.

The commission, in its report, implicated former Speaker and Maoist vice-chair Krishna Bahadur Mahara, among other powerful individuals, in the smuggling. Then police remanded Mahara and other accused persons in custody as suggested by the commission on March 18, 2024. However, he was released without bail on March 22 on the condition that he will be present to the CIB as and when needed.

Citing the success of the judicial commission in the gold smuggling case, the Congress has now demanded a parliamentary probe against Lamichhane in the case of cooperative funds misappropriation.

“Since no sitting ministers or high-profile people were accused in the gold smuggling case, we initially were reluctant to form a committee,” Mahat said.

Amid accusations of cooperative operators defrauding depositors of millions of rupees, Lamichhane has repeatedly said he has no accounts in any cooperatives. Hence, there is no question of his involvement in embezzling the deposits, he argues. Lamichhane, then managing director of the Gorkha Media Network, and his business partner GB Rai, who has left the country, are accused of rerouting the cooperative funds to the now-closed Galaxy 4k Television.

Speaker Ghimire summoned an all-party meeting on Tuesday, during which the ruling coalition recommended formation of a committee tasked with investigating the issues facing the cooperative sector as a whole, uncovering fraudulent activities there, and identifying the individuals responsible. Additionally, they suggested that the committee should take legal action against those engaged in the fraud.

The Congress sticks to its demand for the probe committee.

The two largest political parties, the Congress and the UML, have differing positions based on whether they are in the government or in the opposition. The UML, while in the opposition, had demanded the judicial committee in the gold smuggling case while the Congress, the coalition partner, had opposed it. Similar is the case in the cooperative scam where the Congress wants a parliamentary probe committee and the currently ruling party, UML, opposes it.

Being in power or not should not determine whether to demand a probe committee or a judicial committee, political experts say. Both parliamentary or judicial committees are constituted in rare cases or that is the case in other countries, they said.

“It is a clear example of our state mechanisms becoming dysfunctional,” Dambar Khatiwada, a political expert, told the Post. “Otherwise, political parties should have faith in the state apparatus rather than demand such committees.”