
Kathmandu, 31 July: Janardan Sharma has returned as the finance minister after getting a well-planned acquittal from the inadequate investigation of the parliamentary special committee. Sharma, who came into controversy after manipulating tax rates by allowing unauthorized persons at midnight on May 29.
Sharma was cleared based on the majority of ruling party MPs in the parliamentary special committee, but dozens of questions about his financial misdeeds remain. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has again handed over the keys of the Ministry of Finance to Sharma without answering those questions.
Chairman of the Maoist Center Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the main man to return Sharma as a minister again. Sharma's re-entry into the Ministry of Finance is the culmination of the erosion of political ethics of Deuba and Dahal. This incident has further exposed the tendency of Deuba-Dahal, who are ready to do anything to bake bread for their political interests with the strength of the power coalition.
The committee tried to clear Sharma from the very beginning. The committee did the job of acquitting the accused without monitoring the suspected persons involved in the investigation and secure possible evidence. It was well planned that in the name of lack of evidence, Sharma will get a clean chit.
There are dozens of other cases of financial misdeeds committed by Sharma. He had given unauthorized instructions to Rashtra Bank to release the suspicious money received from abroad in the name of Prithvi Shah, his family and company.
Sharma, misusing the ministerial power, initiated the process of investigation against the Governor saying that the directive was not followed. He arranged that the sources of income for large investments in industries ranging from cement to steel should not be sought. The arrangement is controversial. After the provision of zero tax on the import of 'sponge iron' used by large steel industries, small industrialists are in trouble. Provision of tax exemption for private hydropower projects under various headings for 21 years.
If the rule of law is to be followed and the people's aspirations are to be addressed, then there should have been further investigation on these questions commonly raised against Sharma. But on the contrary, Sharma has been given another opportunity to extend his hand in the economy by rolling out the red carpet.
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