KATHMANDU, July 30:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the government to appoint Mukesh Raj Kafle as the managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
A division bench of Chief Justice Damodar Sharma and Justice Cholendra Samsher Rana ordered the government to appoint Kafle as MD as he was considered alternative candidate for the post while appointing Rameshwar Yadav.
The Ministry of Energy had appointed Arjun Karki after Yadav was charged with corruption. Following the government´s move, Kafle had challenged the government´s decision at SC.
The ministry had called for applications from interested candidates for the post of managing director of NEA on September 1, 2011. Yadav was selected for the position and was appointed on April 25, 2013. Kafle was considered an alternative candidate.
However, the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) asked the government to suspend Yadav accusing him of involvement in procuring sub-standard transformers for NEA. Following the directive from CIAA, the government sacked Yadav from the position on April 10, 2014.
CIAA has already filed a corruption case at Special Court against Yadav and 44 other NEA staffers.
The government amended a regulation allowing appointment of joint-secretary of the government as NEA chief and appointed Karki as the managing director.
Kafle had challenged Karki´s appointment arguing that he should be appointed the managing director since alternative candidate would be obvious choice for the position if the appointed candidate is sacked or retires within one year.
As government has already deputed Karki as the acting regional administrator of the western region, the position at NEA has been vacant. Following the development, CIAA has recently urged the government to appoint new MD at NEA.
