Controversies Surround Aide to Former PM Sushila Karki Over Appointments and Influence

Aadarsha Shrestha, the personal secretary to former Prime Minister Sushila Karki, has been mired in controversy since his time as an employee in the Supreme Court's IT division. His involvement became even more contentious when he assumed the role of the Prime Minister's personal secretary.

Aadarsha maintained close ties with individuals ranging from former Chief Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Sah to Prime Minister Karki. Even while working at the Supreme Court, he was frequently embroiled in disputes concerning the scheduling of court cases (peshi management).

With the momentum of the 'Genji' movement on Bhadra 23 and 24, discussions arose about making former Chief Justice Karki the Prime Minister of the interim government, and Aadarsha became increasingly visible. Following Karki's appointment as Prime Minister, Aadarsha became her first choice. He was given the responsibility of personal secretary after having worked in Chief Justice Karki's secretariat.

A new controversy erupted when it became public that Aadarsha had appointed his wife, Sangeeta Shrestha, as a joint secretary-level aide on Assoj 2, leveraging his position as personal secretary. Representatives of 'Genji' protested this appointment. However, Prime Minister Karki defended Aadarsha. Instead of removing Aadarsha, who was implicated in the controversy, she dismissed those who protested the appointment of a relative from the secretariat.

Aadarsha from Sindhuli, who worked as a contract computer operator at the Subba level in the Supreme Court's Information Technology (IT) division, remained a favorite of Prime Minister Karki. In the final phase of her tenure, Prime Minister Karki defended him, calling him honest, and appointed him as the Chairman of the National Nature Conservation Fund. The appointment of Aadarsha as Chairman of the Natural Conservation Fund for a five-year term has now become controversial. 'Genji' representatives have protested this decision, but Karki remains adamant that she will not retract her decision.

Series of Controversies Involving Aadarsha

Working in that position at the Supreme Court since 2061 BS, he worked closely with the Chief Justice. Before the introduction of the lottery system (golapratha) for case assignments, the Chief Justice personally assigned the cases. During that time, Aadarsha was actively involved in the process of assigning cases from the Chief Justice's official residence in Baluwatar. A Supreme Court employee stated that Aadarsha worked in the secretariat of three former Chief Justices—Ram Kumar Prasad Sah, Kalyan Shrestha, and Sushila Karki—handling case scheduling.

According to that employee, case schedules were usually published only at 11 AM, but Aadarsha would inform his close contacts which judge's bench the case was assigned to before the public announcement. The employee said, 'Immediately after the case schedule was disclosed, the parties involved in the case would come to have the case removed before the schedule was made public.' The employee added, 'This practice of parties removing cases for a long time decreased after the lottery system was implemented in the Supreme Court.'

Aadarsha, who had been manipulating case scheduling during Chief Justice Karki's tenure, was removed from the private secretariat after Gopal Parajuli was appointed Chief Justice. He was then reassigned as a computer operator at the Subba level. Since then, Aadarsha, who had been working in the Supreme Court's IT division, made a leap and entered Baluwatar after Karki was appointed Prime Minister. Aadarsha is also the brother-in-law of Supreme Court Justice Til Prasad Shrestha's sister.

Prime Minister Karki not only normalized the incident where Aadarsha secured appointments for his wife, sister-in-law, and other relatives in the Prime Minister's Office but also dismissed the team that raised questions. Karki had trusted Aadarsha since her time as Chief Justice. Karki dismissed 11 individuals, including Aakriti Ghimire, Pradip Gyawali, and James Karki, who were appointed as 'Genji' representatives in the Prime Minister's Office for protesting Aadarsha's arrangement of appointments for his wife Sangeeta and sister-in-law.

Aadarsha also caused controversy and tarnished Prime Minister Karki's reputation through maneuvers such as securing the reappointment of the controversial Manoj Bhatt to the Social Welfare Council and appointing Deepak Shrestha as Member-Secretary of the Lumbini Development Trust. The controversy escalated when Bhatt was reappointed to the Social Welfare Council through Aadarsha's strong influence. Bhatt is the son of Tara Devi, who became a National Assembly member from the Nepali Congress. There was opposition to reappointing Bhatt, who had a controversial first term with poor performance.

During the previous term, complaints against Bhatt were filed with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens. Subsequently, the government formed an investigation committee led by former Chairman of the Special Court, Baburam Regmi, to look into the matter.

Furthermore, 'Genji' protested the appointments made through Aadarsha's influence: Deepak Shrestha at the Lumbini Development Trust, Dr. Kalpana Kumari Shrestha as Executive Director of the Dr. Shakya Dharma Bhakta Organ Transplant Center, and Amritman Shrestha as the Acting General Manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation.