Investigate Assets, Not Settle Scores

Nepali politics is once again at the center of a serious debate involving asset investigation, corruption, and the fairness of legal procedures. Investigating the assets of senior political leaders, former ministers, and influential individuals is not wrong in itself. On the contrary, it is essential for democratic governance, a clean economy, and public trust. For a long time, citizens have been raising questions about the visible imbalance between the lifestyles, assets, and sources of income of many people who have held public office. Therefore, asset investigation is no longer an issue that can be avoided.

However, revenge in the name of investigation is equally unacceptable. In a democratic state, investigation, arrest, prosecution, and verdicts must all proceed according to law, evidence, and due process. A person does not become guilty simply because an allegation has been made. Arrest alone does not mean justice has been delivered. Real justice is achieved only when the investigation is impartial, the evidence is strong, the prosecution is legally sound, and the court makes an independent decision.

The central question today is not merely whether one particular leader has been arrested. The deeper question is whether the state can apply the same standard to all powerful individuals. If investigations are to be carried out, they must apply equally to all parties, all power groups, all former ministers, senior administrators, middlemen, contractors, and everyone who has accumulated suspicious wealth. Selective investigation is not justice; it is an abuse of power. A tendency to target one side while protecting another will make the entire anti-corruption campaign lose credibility.

The government must understand that an anti-corruption campaign is not a tool for gaining popularity. It is a historic opportunity for state reform. If legal procedures are weakened in the name of public anger, applause may come today, but the same process may be used against innocent citizens tomorrow. Therefore, the state must be firm, but not above the law. It must be courageous, but not without evidence. It must be active, but not biased.

The independence of investigative bodies is decisive in this process. The Department of Money Laundering Investigation, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the police, the Department of Revenue Investigation, and other agencies must not become instruments operated under the direction of any party, government, or invisible power center. These institutions run on taxpayers’ money, and their first responsibility is to the constitution, the law, and the citizens. If the shadow of political influence appears over investigative agencies, even action against the guilty will be viewed with suspicion by the public.

The role of the media is equally sensitive. It is the duty of the media to raise questions about corruption and illegal wealth, but declaring someone a criminal before facts are established is media trial. Investigative journalism and character assassination are not the same thing. The media must question the government, the opposition, investigative agencies, and the courts, but it must not abandon the discipline of facts, documents, and public interest.

Political parties must also abandon the old habit of merely defending their own leaders. If any leader is innocent, he or she should receive a clean chit through an impartial investigation. If guilty, no party flag should be allowed to provide protection. Patriotism does not mean defending one’s own leaders; it means defending the nation’s wealth, the rule of law, and justice.

What Nepal needs today is impartiality, not revenge. It needs institutional reform, not slogans alone. It needs the rule of evidence, not the verdict of the crowd. Asset investigation must take place, but it must apply to everyone. Action must be taken, but it must be lawful. The guilty must not escape, but the innocent must not be victimized either. This is the dignity of democracy, the foundation of justice, and the true meaning of patriotism.