Government advised to bring private sector corruption under purview of law

Kathmandu, Feb 6 . The National Vigilance Center has advised the government to bring corruption of private sector under the purview of law. The center put this suggestion before the government through its annual report submitted today to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

It may be noted that the private sector corruption is also the concern of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) which in its reports recommended the government to look into the matter.

The Center in the report stated Nepal is a member party to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the government should reach the private sector to intervene in corrupt acts prevalent in private sector. The Convention calls for preventive measures and the criminalization of corruption in both and private sectors.

But the government still does not seem serious to respond to the advices. No noticeable concern is shown from anywhere to supervise private sector affairs. CIAA the then Chief Commissioner Suryanath Upadhyaya had in 2004 signed on the UN document on behalf of Nepal.

As Center Spokesperson Bishnu Raj Lamichhane said though private sector has been marred by corrupt acts, there is no regulatory body to deal with the issues. Government intervention in private sector corruption would highly contribute to good governance and this is the need of the time as well, he added.

The Corruption Prevention Act of Nepal- 2059 BS does not allow the Center and CIAA to look into the private sector corruption. Public have investment of millions of rupees in the private sector, and a wide-range corruption is estimated to be prevalent there. That’s why it should be brought under the purview of law.

A new law is not required to take preventive measures against private sector corruption; only a slight amendment to the Act is enough to pave the way for the government to look into the issues. “The way is possible if the definition of public post states that it does mean the private sector post as well”.

Banking, financial and transport sectors are all public sectors and they should be incorporated in the definitions of the Act. CIAA spokesperson Rameshwor Dangal said the CIAA in its every report recommends the government to criminalise the private sector corruption.

Transparency International Nepal’s chair and former administrator Khem Raj Regmi stressed on the need of formulating a law to put a tab on the private sector corruption as Nepal is already a Member State to the UN convention.

“Private sectors illegally pay a hefty amount to bureaucrats to influence them to take decisions in their favour. Corruptions of millions of rupees including tax evasion are prevalent in private sector, such acts must be punished,” he said.