Photo: Kunda Dixit Photo: Kunda Dixit

After ten days of detention by the Commission to Investigate the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) journalist and Himalmedia co-publisher Kanak Mani Dixit was ordered to be released by the Supreme Court on Monday. Acting on a habeas corpus writ, Chief Justice Sushila Karki and Justice Jagadish Sharma Poudel in their decision termed the detention illegal and warned the CIAA not to detain anyone into custody without furnishing sufficient reason.

The Bench ruled that the CIAA couldn’t provide adequate basis for Dixit’s detention for 10 days, and has further determined that this process of using the ruse of corruption allegations to put individuals behind bars is itself wrong. This sets the precedent now for the CIAA to follow proper legal procedures in future.

The gist of the ruling is: The CIAA and the Special Court do not have the right to detain or extend the detention of anyone it likes without sufficient reason and proof in the name of investigating them. It has concluded that the CIAA has not been acting within the legal framework, and has raised serious questions about the watchdog’s activities over the past.

Before Dixit, the CIAA had filed cases against lawyers Sambhu Thapa and Jyoti Baniya. CIAA chief Lok Man Singh Karki sought revenge against all three for their opposition to his appointment in 2013. Karki had been named by the Rayamajhi Commission for embezzlement and masterminding the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters as the Chief Secretary in the Gyanendra regime in 2006.

The CIAA got the Internal Revenue Service to raid Sambhu Thapa’s law firm and seize computers. Even then, the Supreme Court had warned the CIAA that its behaviour wasn’t legal. The Special Court had also dismissed the case against Baniya.

With Sunday’s verdict on Dixit, the Supreme Court has for the third time found the CIAA’s actions illegal. It is therefore time for Parliament to take action against another constitutional body that has been acting in an arbitrary and unlawful manner.

The Constitution gives Parliament the ultimate responsibility to monitor the activities of all constitutional organs, except the National Human Rights Commission. And if found to be behaving in a manner that is illegal, Parliament has the mandate to start impeachment proceedings.

When it convenes on Monday, Parliament may have to start deliberating on what to do about the the wayward CIAA.

Kiran Nepal