The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has initiated an investigation into the encroachment and embezzlement of Tribhuvan University's land.

The government-formed Tribhuvan University Land and Immovable Property Investigation Committee 2081 had recommended action, pointing out that about 2,500 ropanis of Tribhuvan land was encroached upon. The CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Poudel said that the study and investigation were initiated after obtaining a report from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. ‘The work of studying the report is almost complete.’ He said, ‘We will initiate the investigation and take action.’

The study of the report given by the committee has been completed . We have also requested additional evidence and documents from Tribhuvan University for the investigation . We will take action .– Rajendra Kumar Poudel, spokesperson, Authority The committee formed under the coordination of former Joint Secretary Mahendra Kumar Thapa has pointed out that the land encroachers should be further investigated by the CIAA, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the police and the police administration and brought to justice. The investigation committee has pointed out that the operators of the lab school have tried to seize the university’s land by creating forged documents. Tribhuvan University officials have been saying that they cannot bring back the encroached land without the help of the government.

Registrar Kedar Rijal confirmed that the Authority has requested land-related documents from Tribhuvan University for additional evidence . ‘We have sent some documents and are in the process of sending some more,’ he said . An employee of Tribhuvan University said that the Authority has requested documents and evidence on the issue of 108 ropanis of land occupied by the Laboratory (Lab School). ‘How much land does Tribhuvan have ? How much is in use ? How much is encroached . Details of that have been requested . We are collecting additional documents to send detailed details to the Authority,’ he said .

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sushila Karki had sought information from the concerned officials about the progress in the process of returning the encroached land of Tribhuvan University . She held discussions with Vice-Chancellor Deepak Aryal, Rector Khadga KC, Registrar Rijal and others in the presence of Finance Minister Rameshwor Khanal, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, Education Minister Mahabir Pun, and Communications Minister Jagadish Kharel. Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, Education Secretary Chudamani Poudel, and officials of the Land Search Committee also participated in the discussion.

Prime Minister Karki had sought information about the progress made so far in the implementation of the report and expressed interest in the upcoming process. She had inquired about how much was returned after the report was made public, how the return process has progressed, and what action has been taken against the guilty. An official participating in the discussion said that Prime Minister Karki had directed that the trend of unrelated organizations and individuals occupying, grabbing, and even selling TU land be stopped immediately. “Whoever is guilty, they should be brought to justice immediately,” the official said, quoting the Prime Minister.

In the meeting with the Prime Minister, TU officials had expressed their expectation of government support in removing those who have encroached on university land and maintaining a register of misappropriated land. Home Minister Aryal said that the university itself should take the lead in the process of maintaining the register and that if land is illegally seized, a complaint should be filed with the CIB and other bodies as separate cases. He said that the CIB is ready to take action as it has expertise and experience in land misappropriation. After the discussion, TU has prepared to formulate an action plan to implement the report. ‘The issue of returning the land identified as encroached on by the government and forming a search committee to conduct further studies will be included in the action plan,’ said a TU official. He said that support from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Authority, the police, the administration, etc. will be sought as needed to implement the action plan. ‘The search has not yet been carried out on the land outside the Kathmandu Valley of TU. There is suspicion that land has been embezzled in some places within Kathmandu as well. But it has not been confirmed. We urge the government to include the issue of forming a committee again in the action plan to conduct further investigations,' he said.

The investigation committee has stated that out of the 5,218 ropanis of land acquired by the government in 2013 and 2030 for the establishment and operation of Tribhuvan University, about 2,539 ropanis of land have been encroached. It has been seen that about 1,843 ropanis of land in the Kirtipur premises have been encroached and embezzled. Similarly, the report of the University's Land and Immovable Property Investigation Committee 2081 mentions that 696 ropanis of land outside Kirtipur have also been encroached.

The committee has stated that about 843 ropanis of land in the central office in Kirtipur have been encroached and occupied by 21 organizations and groups. The report also mentions that 148 ropanis and 15 aanas of land of the affiliated (government) campuses in the Kathmandu Valley under Tribhuvan University have been embezzled. The land search was conducted by observing 18 out of 22 campuses in Kathmandu. Of these, about 150 ropanis of land was found to be encroached on in seven campuses. The committee also stated that there are 1,253 ropanis of land in the affiliated campuses in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

The report, which has not been made public by the KP Sharma Oli-led government since November 2002, was decided by the Interim Council of Ministers led by Sushila Karki to be sent to the Ministry of Education for implementation on October 26. According to the land search committee, Laboratory School in Kirtipur, Radhaswami Satsang Vyas Nepal, Nepal Professors' Association, Tribhuvan University Professors' Association, Employees' Association, BP Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Ayurveda Research and Training Center, and Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh have been using Tribhuvan University land. Similarly, the committee's report states that Nepal Bank Limited, Global IME Bank, Police Circle Kirtipur, Balkhu and Kalimati, Lions Blood Circulation Center, Nepal Cricket Association, TU Covered Hall have also been using TU land. Kathmandu Water Supply Board, Agriculture and Horticulture Center, Kirtipur Municipality, Stone, Gravel, Sand Depot, Nepal Electricity Authority have also been using TU land. The committee has recommended that the CIAA and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the police should conduct further investigation and investigation into the 108 ropani land used by the