Eye on the ball

Attempts are being made to divert attention of the parliamentary probe panel on cooperatives scam.

The issue of jurisdiction that has cropped up in the parliamentary special committee formed to investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives across the country is nothing but a distraction to take the attention away from the main agenda. According to Sishir Khanal, a committee member from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), it is unclear whether a committee formed by the federal Parliament can investigate the cooperatives that come under the jurisdiction of the provincial and local level governments. Khanal and the RSP are clearly fishing for a legal loophole to absolve the party chair and current deputy prime minister and home minister Rabi Lamichhane of the crime of routing money from various cooperatives into the Gorkha Media Network. There is documentary proof of money from at least four cooperatives being pumped into the network at a time Lamichhane was its managing director. Some of these cooperatives fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial governments. Khanal said the committee should work in a way that no legal questions can later be raised over its final recommendations. This is a flawed argument. A bit of context is warranted.