Kathmandu, November 2
Transparency International Nepal has demanded an immediate investigation into judges about whom questions have been raised in public.
In a statement issued on Monday, the organisation said judges whose names have been linked to allegations of violating ethics and the code of conduct should be investigated.
It also advised judges who have been named in media reports, and who have offered clarifications, to demonstrate their integrity and stay away from judicial proceedings until the questions are resolved.
Meeting or coming into contact with parties to pending cases, middlemen or influential people is not appropriate under the code of conduct, the organisation said. It added that an investigation should move forward in such circumstances.
“The questions raised are serious, and it is widely known that radical reform of the judiciary is urgently needed. Public clarifications from the people facing allegations cannot, on their own, resolve these questions,” Transparency International Nepal states in the statement.
Noting that Parliament is the body that investigates judges when questions are raised about them, the organisation urged it to launch an immediate investigation through a parliamentary committee and take the necessary decisions. It also called for an investigation into the assets of the judges concerned.
