Nepal's anti-graft body chief faces impeachment motion at parliament

Chief of Nepal's apex anti-graft body, Lokman Singh Karki, has faced an impeachment motion at the Parliament on Wednesday night.

157 parliamentarians from the ruling and opposition parties registered the impeachment motion against the Chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) at the House hours after Parliament formed an impeachment recommendation committee in accordance with the Constitution.

Parliamentarians said that they registered the impeachment motion after Karki was found to have misused power and breached the constitution while in office.

"With the registration of this motion, Karki has been automatically barred from working in his capacity as CIAA chief until the issue is duly resolved by the Parliament," UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai told media.

Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti told media on Thursday morning that she had been informed about the registration of the impeachment motion against Karki with the signatures of 157 parliamentarians.

Over one-fourth of the lawmakers registered the motion as per the constitutional requirement for moving ahead an impeachment motion, the Himalayan Times Online reported on Thursday.

"Signatures of 149 lawmakers was needed to reach the one-fourth mark from the existing 597 members of Parliament. However, a two-thirds majority is required to pass the impeachment motion," the report further said.

A separate case is sub judice at the Nepal's Supreme Court questioning over Karki's eligibility as the Chief of the anti-graft body.

The 60-year-old Mr. Karki is a former civil servant and previously also served as the Chief Secretary of the Nepal government in 2005. Karki was appointed the Chief Commissioner of CIAA on May 8, 2013.

Karki has been facing severe criticisms from civil society members, media and major political parties of misusing power. Endit