The parliament has approved the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) recommendation for a separate task force to look into instances of missing or death cases of officials and contractors and inaction even after court verdict.
The recommendation was made as the PAC presented its report yesterday in the parliament. The PAC recommends the government to institute the task force in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
The National Council’s Wangdue Phodrang Member Tashi Dorji, who is the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, said criminals fleeing the country after committing offences should be arrested no matter where they are and dealt with in accordance with law. “If the government institutes a task force in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, it would come handy in the next session,” he said.
He also added that the OAG has to deal with a lot of other cases apart from the audit cases and that It will only create more confusion when everything goes to the OAG.
Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji said besides OAG, even the police, ACC and RAA are not able to get hold of criminals on time. “Firstly, extradition treaty must be signed in order to bring a Bhutanese criminal from abroad,” he said.
“Secondly, foreign states may not consider petty thefts and minor criminals. Thirdly, if we directly consult foreign agencies regarding Bhutanese criminals, it would affect the image and lives of other Bhutanese living there.”
There are over 15 unresolved cases with Anti-Corruption Commission and over 18 missing or death cases of officials and contractors and inactions even after court verdict cases today.
The unresolved cases pertaining to Annual Audit Report 2009 to 2014 were forwarded to the ACC by RAA for investigation.
