The Anti-Corruption Commission, The Office of the Attorney General and the Royal Audit Authority are working out ways to expedite the adjudication process of the pending cases and to resolve irregularities. Towards this end, the three constitutional bodies held a meeting in Tsirang recently. The meeting is also to streamline the roles of the three constitutional bodies and to expedite the prosecution process of pending cases related to corruption to create a corrupt-free society.
The meeting led by the heads of the three constitutional bodies saw discussions on issues which are contentious and need to be addressed at the earliest. The officials said although the ultimate goal and objectives of the three agencies are the same the differences in functions have often affected them in ensuring a corrupt-free society.
“So, we have come across problem areas and some obstacles, which we need to overcome and which we need to sit together and thrash out. And then we need to find the best way forward, which suits all of our needs as well as all our reality in terms of where we are at the moment. So, we need to understand each other,” said Deki Pema, the Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
“So far, we have forwarded all the corruption-related issues to the ACC. So, we are now proposing that we can forward the cases which are not so controversial directly to the OAG instead of rooting through ACC. So, these are some of the possibilities we are suggesting. And then like ACC might come out and then we will also set separate deadlines and timeframe so that things move in a very smooth manner hereafter,” said Tashi, the Auditor General.
“If cases are and prosecution referrals are delayed I think it also impacts the overall system in providing timely justice. So that’s why by the end of these two days’ meeting, we are hoping that there will be some concrete outcome in our collaboration efforts in terms of case referrals and prosecution,” said Lungten Dubgyur, Attorney General.
According to the Annual Judicial Report 2022, the number of pending cases dropped by 27 last year from over 1,800 in 2021.
However, on the other hand, the OAG prosecuted over a hundred cases more in the same year compared to 2021. Almost 700 cases were referred to the OAG from the Police, ACC, and various government agencies last year.
Regarding the pending unresolved irregularities, some of the parliamentarians raised their concerns in the parliament during the joint sitting last December. The Public Accounts Committee reported to the house that there are still over Nu 305 M worth of unresolved irregularities.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Phub Gyem
