THREE CASINOS FACE CLOSURE

MEDIA GOOGLE

‘Judiciary should not be criticized just on the basis of
someone’s personal weakness. Before accusing the
whole system as corrupt, one should show proof.”

(Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi, Republica, 19 Dec.)
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THREE CASINOS FACE CLOSURE
Kathmandu, 19 Dec.: The government is planning to close down three casinos that failed to clear royalty dues in time. However, it may renew the licenses of six other casinos that
cleared the dues recently, Samiksha Koirala writes in Republica..

Officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) and the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) said they are writing separate letters to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) so that those casinos which cleared their dues can get their licenses renewed.

Five casinos - Casino Everest, Casino Tara, Casino Rad, Casino Venus and Casino Pokhara Grande - have cleared their dues worth more than Rs 80 million following the November 22 directive by Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to the government to close down the casinos failing to clear the dues within 15 days. PAC had directed the ministries concerned to collect the outstanding dues of Rs 490.18 million from nine casinos within 15 days.

After the PAC deadline expired, the casinos were provided additional time until Friday (mid-December) to clear the dues along with accrued interest as per the existing Financial Act.

Out of ten casinos in the country, only Casino Shangri La had cleared the dues before PAC´s instruction. Casino Anna, which had the highest outstanding dues, cleared the dues for the last five months of the current fiscal year. But a source at MoTCA disputed the payment claim, saying Casino Anna has cleared the dues of Rs 20 million only, which is the license renewal fee for this year.

Casino officials were arguing that they will not clear the dues for the period when Nepal Recreation Centre used to own the casino. Casino Anna still has to pay more than Rs 100 million to the government.

“We are going to seek permission for renewal of operating license of the six casinos that have cleared the dues but we have not decided anything about Casino Anna, which made only a partial payment,” the source said. Casinos have to pay a renewal fee of Rs 20 million every fiscal year.

The government has already scrapped the operating license of NRC about six months ago. NRC was running four casinos - Casino Nepal, Casino Anna, Casino Everest and Casino
Tara.
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INTERVIEW

EVEN JUDICIARY ISN’T PURE: LAW MINISTER GUPTA


Brijesh Kumar Gupta is Minister for Law and Justice. His remarks on judiciary that it is not totally devoid of corruption and that it needs improvement have triggered mixed responses. Nandalal Tiwari of The Rising Nepal talked with Minister Gupta on issues related to anomalies in the judiciary and the ways to correct them, and the political issues related to the United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF), a coalition partner in the present government.
Excerpts:

How have you taken the complaints that justice has been delivered in a clumsy and ineffective manner along with different controversies related to judiciary?
Of course, such complaints are not totally false given the procedural aspect of justice delivery as set in the past. Many changes have taken place in our country; we have become a republic from a monarchy. However, we still have old laws in force that belong to monarchical era, for instance, the code of 2017 BS and the provisions of the 35-day of walking-period, which, I think, is not necessary given the development situation of the country. This calls for the amendment of laws pertaining to justice delivery process so that it becomes timely and effective.
Besides outmoded laws, delay in the appointment in judiciary including justices is another problem. Even at present, we have not been able to initiate process for making appointments in the Supreme Court. When there are no judges how can judgment be made? Moreover, there are complaints regarding the anomalies in the judiciary.
What, do you think, are the urgent issues to be dealt with for making the judiciary effective?
The three problems as I pointed out above should first be solved. The old laws should be amended, appointment should be made in time adopting transparent process and considering the degree of quality of the prospective candidate. We should give up the practices of allocating quota for a particular party while making such appointments. This quota system is something that has not come to the public. Moreover, there is a practice of lobbying. If we see in the Nepal Bar Association, we find law professionals representing different ideological parties like the democrats or the communists and so on. It is good to have certain views for one’s rights and welfare. But when this pattern of views becomes influential in so independent body as judiciary, in which we all have great faith, how it can become fair. In this way there are many issues which need to be improved. And this task can be performed by a collective effort, not by an individual. Instability of the government, I think, also has some linkage with the problems that I mentioned above.
Former Chief Justice had hinted at some anomalies related to judiciary. At present, you are also making parallel expressions. What are the problems related to corruption in the independent body?
I do not like to go how my recent expressions may have been twisted and presented in different media outlets. In fact, my background is electronic engineering and as such I was a bit away from issues related to law sector. However, these three months have been quite fruitful as I have been able to grasp the sector and its problems.
What I said a few days back is even judiciary is not pure. It is not an exception to corruption. I never said that judiciary as a whole has become corrupt. I never meant that all the judges are corrupt. My view is based on the fact that our country has worsened its performance with regard to corruption control. It is now ranked as 154th corrupt country. This means that all the three independent bodies of the state, the executive, the legislative and the judiciary, are responsible in different ways for the poor situation. My point is an individual of any of these bodies could be away from corruption, but as a system, not a single body is above the water.
My expression was also based on my experience in this Ministry. 5 out of 10 people involved in judiciary who approached me here for different reasons offered me for something. This made me feel that there have been wrong practices. And this in turn raised a question as to how we can expect fairness from judiciary. Now different people want me to make public the names of those who made the offer. I would do so but for the sake of secrecy. I have told those people that I would make their names public if they approached me again with the same ill-intention. As a human being, I have a duty to improve the people through counseling. I have given them time to correct themselves, their wrong doings.
As you are a leader of Terai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMDP), a constituent of UDMF, let me turn the topic to politics. Recently, the UDMF has raised the issue of implementation of the four-point pact it singed with the UCPN-Maoist hours before forming the coalition government. What is your comment in this?
There is nothing wrong in raising the issues pertaining to the implementation of the four-point agreement. Some of the issues included in the pact were to be implemented within the 45 days of the formation of the government. We, the UDMF, were assured of this. One of the issues is about making the national army inclusive by making new recruitment of 10,000 youths from the Madheshis (inhabitants of the southern plains). This is nothing new as we had already amended the interim constitution to make the army inclusive. And our representation in the army is very minimal, almost zero given size of the army numbering around one hundred thousand and the Madheshi representation numbering around three thousand.
What we want is that the army should be made inclusive and that can be done by setting up different units for the Dalits, women and the Madheshi. In this respect, we had raised the issue of inclusive bill and the main ruling party, UCPN-Maoist, had promised to address the issue within 45 days. Third issue is about distribution of citizenship. We all know that no citizen should be denied of his/her right to get citizenship certificate. We have some problems like father has got citizenship on the basis of birth whereas his children are failing to get the citizenship on the basis of lineage. Under prevailing provisions, such children are eligible to get the lineage citizenship certificate. However, we have some technical problems. We want such problems solved.
Amongst these, peace and constitution building process has also featured in the agreement. There has been progress in conclusion of the peace and constitution process. Some progress has also been made in inclusive bill; my Ministry has already submitted a draft of the bill to the Prime Minister. On problems related to citizenship certificate, the Home Ministry has already taken the issue to the Cabinet. On making the army an inclusive body, we have heard that there has been some homework within the body itself. We are anticipating some positive outcome within a few days.
That means you are satisfied with the process underway but not with the pace of the process. Is it correct?
Yes, and this applies to both the agenda of the nation and that of the Madhesh. Here, what should be understood is that the agenda of the Madhesh are also the national agenda and vice versa. The point is the Madheshi people should be given equal rights and the feeling and the pride that it is their inherent nation.
Although there can be no argument with regard to making the army inclusive, there may be opposition if there are proposals to make units of the national security force on the basis of caste or ethnicity, hilly or mountainous. What is your point?
Making units on the basis of nationality in the army is not a new practice to be done for the first time in our country. For example, in India, there are separate units of the Shikh, the Gurkhas. Every community has a different unit there. Such a system has a benefit, for instance, when there is a riot in the Muslim dominated area, you can dispatch a Hindu unit to control the situation. And this works as the presence of Hindu unit will simply demoralize the Muslim rioters and the vice versa.
The reason for our assertion in forming a separate unit is linked with good representation of the Madheshi. If we cannot form a separate unit, we will be unable to make the army inclusive in a short span of time. We have asked for recruiting ten thousand Madheshi youths. But we are flexible on the number, if that is impossible for various reasons including financial one. At present the Madheshi do not think that the army is theirs due to their minimal representation. To make them feel that the army is also theirs, their representation should be displayed.
Would not it work if the Madheshis are included in the army making new recruitment on inclusive basis in its existing organizational structures?
That would not work. Why? That will take a hopelessly long time. For instance, if you announce a vacancy for a hundred new recruits, the Madheshis may have thirty percent and they may as well be failed in the selection process. Even if they succeed, you can calculate how many years it might take to include five thousand Madheshi in the army. That’s why we are proposing to set up a separate unit so that we can recruit for the sake of the new unit. And we are saying that the new recruitment of the Madheshi youths could be made on the existing set of standards of the army.
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INTERVIEW

EVEN JUDICIARY ISN’T PURE: LAW MINISTER GUPTA


Brijesh Kumar Gupta is Minister for Law and Justice. His remarks on judiciary that it is not totally devoid of corruption and that it needs improvement have triggered mixed responses. Nandalal Tiwari of The Rising Nepal talked with Minister Gupta on issues related to anomalies in the judiciary and the ways to correct them, and the political issues related to the United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF), a coalition partner in the present government.
Excerpts:

How have you taken the complaints that justice has been delivered in a clumsy and ineffective manner along with different controversies related to judiciary?
Of course, such complaints are not totally false given the procedural aspect of justice delivery as set in the past. Many changes have taken place in our country; we have become a republic from a monarchy. However, we still have old laws in force that belong to monarchical era, for instance, the code of 2017 BS and the provisions of the 35-day of walking-period, which, I think, is not necessary given the development situation of the country. This calls for the amendment of laws pertaining to justice delivery process so that it becomes timely and effective.
Besides outmoded laws, delay in the appointment in judiciary including justices is another problem. Even at present, we have not been able to initiate process for making appointments in the Supreme Court. When there are no judges how can judgment be made? Moreover, there are complaints regarding the anomalies in the judiciary.
What, do you think, are the urgent issues to be dealt with for making the judiciary effective?
The three problems as I pointed out above should first be solved. The old laws should be amended, appointment should be made in time adopting transparent process and considering the degree of quality of the prospective candidate. We should give up the practices of allocating quota for a particular party while making such appointments. This quota system is something that has not come to the public. Moreover, there is a practice of lobbying. If we see in the Nepal Bar Association, we find law professionals representing different ideological parties like the democrats or the communists and so on. It is good to have certain views for one’s rights and welfare. But when this pattern of views becomes influential in so independent body as judiciary, in which we all have great faith, how it can become fair. In this way there are many issues which need to be improved. And this task can be performed by a collective effort, not by an individual. Instability of the government, I think, also has some linkage with the problems that I mentioned above.
Former Chief Justice had hinted at some anomalies related to judiciary. At present, you are also making parallel expressions. What are the problems related to corruption in the independent body?
I do not like to go how my recent expressions may have been twisted and presented in different media outlets. In fact, my background is electronic engineering and as such I was a bit away from issues related to law sector. However, these three months have been quite fruitful as I have been able to grasp the sector and its problems.
What I said a few days back is even judiciary is not pure. It is not an exception to corruption. I never said that judiciary as a whole has become corrupt. I never meant that all the judges are corrupt. My view is based on the fact that our country has worsened its performance with regard to corruption control. It is now ranked as 154th corrupt country. This means that all the three independent bodies of the state, the executive, the legislative and the judiciary, are responsible in different ways for the poor situation. My point is an individual of any of these bodies could be away from corruption, but as a system, not a single body is above the water.
My expression was also based on my experience in this Ministry. 5 out of 10 people involved in judiciary who approached me here for different reasons offered me for something. This made me feel that there have been wrong practices. And this in turn raised a question as to how we can expect fairness from judiciary. Now different people want me to make public the names of those who made the offer. I would do so but for the sake of secrecy. I have told those people that I would make their names public if they approached me again with the same ill-intention. As a human being, I have a duty to improve the people through counseling. I have given them time to correct themselves, their wrong doings.
As you are a leader of Terai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMDP), a constituent of UDMF, let me turn the topic to politics. Recently, the UDMF has raised the issue of implementation of the four-point pact it singed with the UCPN-Maoist hours before forming the coalition government. What is your comment in this?
There is nothing wrong in raising the issues pertaining to the implementation of the four-point agreement. Some of the issues included in the pact were to be implemented within the 45 days of the formation of the government. We, the UDMF, were assured of this. One of the issues is about making the national army inclusive by making new recruitment of 10,000 youths from the Madheshis (inhabitants of the southern plains). This is nothing new as we had already amended the interim constitution to make the army inclusive. And our representation in the army is very minimal, almost zero given size of the army numbering around one hundred thousand and the Madheshi representation numbering around three thousand.
What we want is that the army should be made inclusive and that can be done by setting up different units for the Dalits, women and the Madheshi. In this respect, we had raised the issue of inclusive bill and the main ruling party, UCPN-Maoist, had promised to address the issue within 45 days. Third issue is about distribution of citizenship. We all know that no citizen should be denied of his/her right to get citizenship certificate. We have some problems like father has got citizenship on the basis of birth whereas his children are failing to get the citizenship on the basis of lineage. Under prevailing provisions, such children are eligible to get the lineage citizenship certificate. However, we have some technical problems. We want such problems solved.
Amongst these, peace and constitution building process has also featured in the agreement. There has been progress in conclusion of the peace and constitution process. Some progress has also been made in inclusive bill; my Ministry has already submitted a draft of the bill to the Prime Minister. On problems related to citizenship certificate, the Home Ministry has already taken the issue to the Cabinet. On making the army an inclusive body, we have heard that there has been some homework within the body itself. We are anticipating some positive outcome within a few days.
That means you are satisfied with the process underway but not with the pace of the process. Is it correct?
Yes, and this applies to both the agenda of the nation and that of the Madhesh. Here, what should be understood is that the agenda of the Madhesh are also the national agenda and vice versa. The point is the Madheshi people should be given equal rights and the feeling and the pride that it is their inherent nation.
Although there can be no argument with regard to making the army inclusive, there may be opposition if there are proposals to make units of the national security force on the basis of caste or ethnicity, hilly or mountainous. What is your point?
Making units on the basis of nationality in the army is not a new practice to be done for the first time in our country. For example, in India, there are separate units of the Shikh, the Gurkhas. Every community has a different unit there. Such a system has a benefit, for instance, when there is a riot in the Muslim dominated area, you can dispatch a Hindu unit to control the situation. And this works as the presence of Hindu unit will simply demoralize the Muslim rioters and the vice versa.
The reason for our assertion in forming a separate unit is linked with good representation of the Madheshi. If we cannot form a separate unit, we will be unable to make the army inclusive in a short span of time. We have asked for recruiting ten thousand Madheshi youths. But we are flexible on the number, if that is impossible for various reasons including financial one. At present the Madheshi do not think that the army is theirs due to their minimal representation. To make them feel that the army is also theirs, their representation should be displayed.
Would not it work if the Madheshis are included in the army making new recruitment on inclusive basis in its existing organizational structures?
That would not work. Why? That will take a hopelessly long time. For instance, if you announce a vacancy for a hundred new recruits, the Madheshis may have thirty percent and they may as well be failed in the selection process. Even if they succeed, you can calculate how many years it might take to include five thousand Madheshi in the army. That’s why we are proposing to set up a separate unit so that we can recruit for the sake of the new unit. And we are saying that the new recruitment of the Madheshi youths could be made on the existing set of standards of the army.
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