Bijay Damase

July 8: The then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma and the entire finance ministry courted controversy soon after the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23) was unveiled on May 29.

Sharma has been accused of changing the tax rates in favour of certain business houses. It was also reported that Sharma had allowed unauthorized persons to enter the ministry on the eve of the budget announcement, drawing criticism from all quarters.

Sharma on the other hand has been maintaining his innocence. The main opposition party CPN UML has demanded the government to show CCTV footage to prove that unauthorized persons had not entered the ministry on May 28. In an interview with a television channel, Sharma said that the UML will not be shown that video. Later, Sharma made an irresponsible remark that the video has been deleted although the ministry is required to maintain video records of at least three months.

As the controversy reached its climax, Sharma resigned from the post of finance minister. An 11-member parliamentary special probe committee has been formed to investigate into the issue.

In this entire controversy, the role of Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, who enjoys the authority to make ministerial-level decisions, seems to be dubious.

If the unauthorized persons had indeed entered the ministry on the eve of budget announcement on May 28, he should have made efforts to stop them. Had he failed to do so, he should have revealed everything in a display of high moral standard. However, he failed in this front. He remained silent even when the issue got heated.

If any unauthorized person had not entered the ministry, he should have defended the ministry by all means. His silence indicates that either he was fearful of the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma or he was trying to hide the wrongdoings of the minister.

The reply given to those seeking CCTV footage by the ministry staffers has also dragged Marasini into controversy.

The ministry had told the secretary of Consumer Welfare Protection Forum Jaya Prasad Poudel that the CCTV footage will be gradually deleted after 13 days. The ministry’s response is against the CCTV Installation and Operation Work Procedure 2072 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which clearly states that the CCTV footage should be maintained for at least three months.

The work procedure further mentions that the CCTV footage should be immediately made available to the Nepal Police or other government agencies for investigation if needed.

Former Chief Secretary Bimal Prasad Koirala argues that a government secretary has more knowledge about the CCTV footage than a minister. He says that the finance secretary should also step down on moral grounds along with the finance minister.

Koirala, who is also a former finance secretary, said that the government must initiate an investigation against Marasini as well.

It is believed that the finance ministry officials said the CCTV footage has been deleted upon the instruction of Marasini because he is the second in command in the ministry.

 The then Financial Comptroller General Marasisi was called to the finance ministry at the behest of Sharma.

Since he was close to the Maoists, Sharma removed the then finance secretary Sishir Dhungana and appointed Marasini in his place.

A government source told New Business Age that Marasini did not dare to speak against Sharma because of this compulsion.

CPN UML’s chief whip Bishal Bhattarai argues that the core team of the finance ministry headed by Janardan Sharma has betrayed the country by formulating a controversial budget.

“It is not possible that the finance secretary can get away from it without taking moral responsibility,” says Bhattarai, adding, “All of them would have landed in jail if such incident had happened in developed country. We will bring all of them to justice.”

When the situation went out of control due to pressure in parliament and on the streets demanding resignation of Sharma, Marasini took an indefinite leave on Wednesday but returned back to office the very next day after Sharma resigned from his post.

Another finance secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar was in Australia at that time.

The ministry currently lacks a minister at a time when the economy is in crisis. Although arrangements have been made for the prime minister to look after the finance ministry, experts say that a proper minister is needed during such challenging times.