The responsibility of the committee is complete, now the Home Minister's exam

In the name of cooperation, the system of forming an organization, collecting savings from unlimited people and mobilizing funds in an uncontrolled manner had to be stopped. But due to the economic and political influence of those who embezzled large amounts of money from large cooperatives, the action was hindered. The voices of the victims were raised by the media and Parliament because the then Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane prohibited questions, complaints and investigations on the misappropriation of savings with his involvement. After that, the investigation committee that was formed said, "Act against everyone, including Lamichhane, who misappropriates the money." The report has not only taken action against the culprits, but also drawn a roadmap for returning the money to the victims.

In the report presented to the House of Representatives on Monday, the government has been given clear guidance to make not only the directors who embezzle the savings of the cooperative, but also all those who take, spend and make funds legally responsible. The co-operative movement, to which a quarter of the country's population belongs, can be purged only when those accused by the committee are brought to book and held accountable. The committee has concluded that 655.54 million Gorkha media came from Suryadarshan in Pokhara, Supreme in Butwal, Sano Paila in Birganj and Swarnalakshmi Sahakari in Kathmandu and that amount was spent through checks with Lamichhane's signature.

Yesterday, when the victim raised his voice on the streets, when the evidence was published in the media and when he raised his voice in the parliament, the former home minister Lamichhane, who claimed that he did not spend a single rupee of the cooperative, is trying to mislead the workers by saying that he got a 'clean chit' from the investigation committee. What is strange is that even the MP of RSVP, who signed the report 'instructing the government to take action against Lamichhane' while sitting in the parliamentary committee, is giving a public statement that his chairman got a 'clean chit'. To overshadow the contents of the report, a group of leaders standing on the right and left behind Lamichhane pretended to be celebrating victory. It is not possible to say how much and for how long they will be successful in swaying their own workers. However, they will not be able to mislead the recommendations of the report and the law of the country, it will have to be guaranteed by the state mechanism.

There is no reason for the state apparatus to retaliate against Lamichhane or to be slanderous, given the guidelines of the committee and the prevailing law. The report clearly states, 'Chairman Gitendrababu Rai and member Kumar Ramtel and the then managing director Ravi Lamichhane and director Chabilal Joshi were responsible for the amount that came to the company from the cooperative during the time they were in charge of the company, so they will recommend the government of Nepal for action in accordance with the prevailing law.' It is clear from the fact that he will be responsible for the amount. Taking ownership of this simple fact and taking action according to prevailing laws is now the responsibility of the state apparatus.

As Lamichhane and his group have been saying, the position of managing director is not a job assignment. He became the managing director because he was a director with 15 percent shares in Gorkha Media. In that capacity, he along with GB Rai and Chabilal Joshi had opened a joint account in the bank and it was found that the money was transferred by single signature on several cheques. As a shareholder director, he is required to take legal responsibility today just as he used to sign checks yesterday. The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee has clearly said, "The directors or shareholders are the main responsible of any company." Share members, board members and the characters in the roles and responsibilities of the managing director should not be held responsible and liable for the amount received in the company. Account signatories who participate in the operation of the account, i.e. finance, must assume responsibility for it.

Co-operative savings are not only misappropriation, but also the law of the government has been attracted to Lamichhane. He had submitted the details to the company registrar's office as his investment in the amount transferred from Supreme Cooperative of Butwal to the company. Similarly, he also held a press conference and called the paper which he submitted to the company registrar's office along with a copy of Rs. It seems that he is doing the same game in the company as yesterday in the case of citizenship or passport. However, the Parliamentary Committee has not only taken this into account, it has confirmed that 'when buying and selling shares, it was found that the payment instruments and instruments submitted as per the law were not complete and were bought and sold on the basis of paper.' As the committee asked to take action according to the existing law, the labor law is attracted in this matter, and the state has been given the direction to take immediate action. Not only when the news came out in the

media, but also during the 9-hour statement in the investigation committee, Lamichhane claimed that he did not know anything about the investment, income and expenses of Gorkha media. However, the company's audit report including investments, loans and assets also bears the signature of GB Rai as Chairman and Lamichhane as Managing Director. However, what Lamichhane is trying to establish is that the directors are responsible in cooperatives, non-directors are not to blame. But regarding the return of common people's savings, the committee has made it clear that the person who embezzled the money will also be held accountable along with the cooperative organization. It is said in the report, "Immediately freeze the corporate assets of cooperatives and the assets of their directors and associated persons." Making legal and institutional arrangements to take over the assets of illegal trading cooperatives and related persons within their respective responsibilities at the central, state and local levels, sell them, recover debts, return depositors' deposits, etc.'

The current law has also shown the way to take action against the directors or other persons who embezzle the savings of the cooperative. Not only cooperative directors, but those involved in investing in savings companies, embezzlement, embezzlement, are considered to be an offense according to Section 122 of the Cooperative Act 2074 and are subject to fines and imprisonment. According to section 124, there is a provision for punishing those who commit an offense under section 122. There is a provision of '6 years in prison if there is 10 million to 100 million, and 8 years in case of 10 million to 1 billion'. Similarly, there is a provision that the Matiyar who helps to commit such a crime will be sentenced to half the punishment. The committee has confirmed that GB and Ravi's group embezzled 545.4 million from Gorkha media.

Even when Lamichhane himself was the home minister, the case of arresting and prosecuting RPP MP Geeta Basnet is currently pending in the court. Legal action was taken against Basnet because he was the owner of a company that invested in Krishnasar Resort in Bardia by taking a loan from Chhihape Sahakari of Nawalparasi. The prevailing law was enough for the Lamichhane-led police to take action against Geeta Basnet. But today there is a parliamentary committee report and also instructions from the parliament to take action against Lamichhane. However, how committed are the current Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Oli to follow the laws of the country and the instructions of the sovereign parliament? No one was able to stop the then Home Minister Lamichhane from taking action against MP Geeta Basnet yesterday, but is there any element, selfishness or motive to stop the current Home Minister Author from taking action against Lamichhane today? Exam has started.