CIAA filed 175 corruption cases against 990 defendants in 2025/26

Kathmandu, September 18, 2026 — The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed 175 corruption cases at the Special Court against 990 people during fiscal year 2025/26, seeking recovery of Rs 25.23 billion in alleged losses.

The details are contained in the commission’s annual report for fiscal year 2025/26, which was submitted to President Ramchandra Paudel on Thursday.

The cases included 56 related to damage to public property, 41 involving bribery, 27 concerning the unlawful use of public office for personal gain and 11 related to illicit wealth. Although the CIAA has the authority to investigate money laundering connected to corruption, it filed five such cases during the year.

The commission received 33,500 complaints during the fiscal year. With around 7,000 complaints carried forward from the previous year, it had approximately 40,000 complaints to deal with.

Local governments accounted for the largest number, with 20,025 complaints alleging corruption. Another 15,512 complaints concerned the federal government.

According to the report, complaints that lacked evidence were set aside. Of the 24,000 complaints received at the CIAA headquarters, around 20,000 were disposed of.

Among federal ministries, more than 3,000 complaints were related to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. Agencies under the Ministry of Education and Sports faced 1,983 complaints, while those under the Home Ministry faced 1,757.

The Special Court delivered decisions in 156 cases filed by the CIAA during the year. Offences were established in 81 of those cases, with defendants either convicted or released on bail.

The commission has faced questions when cases filed by it fail to result in convictions at the court. Its spokesperson, Neupane, said the CIAA had appealed decisions of the Special Court to the Supreme Court and would increase the use of technology in its investigations.