ACC: The country in the last five years, between 2008 and 2012 lost about Nu 1.65B and 61.53 acres of government land to corruption.
The Anti Corruption Commission’s stated this in its latest annual report of 2012 released recently.
The total restitution established from the investigation of corruption offences, the report stated amounted to Nu 1.65B, which is about 1.11 percent of the total budget outlay for the 10th Plan of Nu 148.07B.
Maximum restitution, the report said was from the 2009 cases, one of the major ones being the mining operations of SD Eastern Bhutan Coal Company, which was uncovered during Samtse mining case.
The investigation found the company liable for restitution of more than Nu 1.44B to the government from illegal operation of the Reshore coal mine in Samdrupjongkhar.
The case is currently under trial in the dzongkhag court.
In the same year, other major restitutions cases were that of the health ministry, construction development corporation and Rangjung vocational training institute, which are under various stages of trial.
From the 2008 cases, major restitution was from the Samtse mining case amounting to Nu 107.28M.
“Judgment was passed in December 2011, but the restitution is yet to be fully effected,” the report stated.
A lawyer from Office of the Attorney General said the Supreme Court’s order clearly spelt out that the High Court should enforce the restitution works.
“The restitution was supposed to implement after six months of passing of judgment, but it is not happening,” he said.
There were also restitutions of land.
ACC’s investigation established the restitution of 61.53 acres of government land, mostly from Nganglam and Gyalpoizhing areas that were lost to corruption.
“This also may be just the tip of an iceberg but it could mean depriving 12 households of their right to genuine landholdings of five acres each,” stated the report, which would be presented in the first session of the second Parliament that kicks off this week.
Nganglam in Pemagatshel alone has 46.08 acres of government land to restitute.
ACC investigations found that a businessman in Nganglam had 22 acres of land registered in his father’s thram (registration certificate), which was distributed among the four siblings.
The businessman had represented his siblings during the two surveys conducted in 2005 of New Sathram Compilation (NLS) and in 2010 of National Cadastral Resurvey Program (NCRP) and was accompanied by his brother-in-law, a survey engineer, working in the NLCS.
It was found the government land was encroached during the two surveys. The 22 acres of land had expanded to over 65 acres.
The report also stated the illegal encroachment of government land revealed that few influential local residents in collusion with land record officials, registered the government land in their thrams during the two surveys.
During the reporting period, ACC also established that another 2.13 acres of government land and Nu 0.22M from Tongchekha land case in Punakha and Nu 0.75M from corrupt practices in Yongla Goenpa construction, Pemagatshel to be restituted.
“The restitution was prayed for in the prosecution referral and will be effected following court orders,” the report stated. It also said what the commission uncovered or restituted may be far too small than what was actually stolen. “Therefore, it is critical the government takes aggressive measures to contain corruption, lending meaning to its eloquent and unequivocal intolerant anti-corruption policy.”
The report states that an important outcome of an investigation was the restitution of the ill-gotten wealth, proceeds of corruption, either to the state or the aggrieved party through due process of law.
“Confiscation and subsequent restitution aims to incapacitate, by removing from a person the physical or financial ability, power, or opportunity to continue to engage in corrupt conduct,” the report stated. “That is to prevent offenders from unjustly enriching themselves, by eliminating the advantages and benefits which the offender has gained through his or her illegality.”
By Rinzin Wangchuk
Source Article from http://www.kuenselonline.com/nu-1-65b-61-3-acres-of-land-yet-to-be-restituted/
