The Good Governance and Monitoring Committee of Parliament on Tuesday formed a panel to investigate the alleged interference by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Chief Lokman Singh Karki in the medical entrance exams of Kathmandu University (KU).
But the panel is headed by a Member of Parliament who vehemently defended Karki during a meeting held the same day by that parliamentary committee.
Last week, the parliamentary committee had instructed the CIAA Chief to attend Tuesday’s meeting to answer questions raised by Govinda KC, a Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) doctor who has accused Karki of abusing his power to interfere in the KU exams.
But Karki skipped the meeting, informing the parliamentary committee by letter that he is suffering from ‘a throat infection’ and ‘has been advised by doctors against speaking for one week’.
MP Janak Raj Joshi defended Karki in the meeting, arguing that ‘the CIAA Chief is just doing his duty’ and ‘it is unfortunate that he is being criticised’. Nevertheless he was chosen by the parliamentary committee to head the probe panel formed during its meeting.
KC, who ended his eighth hunger strike on the 16th day (Monday) following a four-point agreement with the government, had demanded Karki’s impeachment. In May, Karki had reportedly sent ‘a panel of experts’ to cancel the question papers prepared for the KU exams. The panel prepared its own question papers, and the son of one of the exam controllers scored the highest marks.
KC has also accused Karki of overstepping his jurisdiction by helping medical colleges run by his family members. The parliamentary committee had decided to grill Karki in the wake of Karki’s strike. But it ended up choosing Joshi, who also spoke against KC on Tuesday, to investigate the allegations against Karki.
