Questions Raised Over Unfiled Cases for Destruction of Public Property During Gandaki Protests

Pokhara. Questions have been raised about why no complaints were filed against those who destroyed public property during the Genji movement held on Bhadra 23 and 24. During the movement, the Gandaki Provincial Government and its subordinate bodies suffered losses of approximately one and a half billion rupees. According to the report, the damage to property other than buildings amounted to 46 crore 69 lakh rupees. The government has stated that the damage to buildings was approximately one billion rupees. Chief Minister Surendraraj Pandey had informed the parliament that 138 government offices and 61 private structures were damaged. Within the province, 361 two-wheeled vehicles were set on fire, while 7 were vandalized and 3 went missing. Similarly, 161 four-wheeled vehicles were set on fire, and 31 were vandalized. Pandey informed that the total damage to government buildings and vehicles was around 2 billion, and to the private sector, it was around 3 billion. The Provincial Assembly Secretariat suffered the most damage during the movement. Videos and photos of those who set fire, vandalized, and looted during the movement have been made public. However, the government did not file a complaint against anyone. In a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of Gandaki, questions were raised against the office for not filing a complaint despite such extensive damage. MPs questioned the Provincial Assembly Secretariat for not filing a complaint with the police even when government property and vehicles were set on fire. During the meeting to discuss the seventh annual report of the Auditor General, MP Bed Bahadur Gurung said, 'A common citizen has to go to jail if they set fire to someone's house. But why was no complaint filed when government property and vehicles were burned? Is this not state property?' Another MP, Pancharam Gurung, expressed anger over the Chief Attorney's Office not doing its job. 'With so much property burning, will no one be held accountable under the law? This is strange. No complaint was filed for action,' he said. 'It is clearly visible in the video that car windows were broken, but no action was taken. In such matters, is our Chief Attorney's Office supposed to work for the government or what?' The meeting of the committee has continuously raised questions against the government's bodies. Earlier, the Policy and Planning Commission was also accused of not working effectively. The Chief Attorney's Office was established as the main legal advisor to the provincial government. The committee has objected to the tendency of bypassing the Chief Attorney's Office and hiring outside private lawyers or experts by paying them for drafting the province's laws and directives. 'Why is the Chief Attorney's Office not being fully utilized? Why is the expenditure increased by bringing in outside lawyers?' said Committee Chairman Sudhirkumar Poudel. The office presented details in the meeting that it has been defending the government in most of the cases filed in the courts. MPs also expressed concern over the government's failure to implement the directives given by the parliamentary committees.