When smart-talking Ram Sharan Mahat finally quit on 31 July, with some opposition prodding, he became Nepal´s first-ever Finance Minister to resign over allegations of "financial irregularity". Mr Mahat had failed to notify Nepal´s central bank of a New York bank account which contained his earnings (USD 46,846) from a stint with the United Nations.
While this "irregularity" bore no resemblance to the ill-gotten amassing of wealth of many a Nepali "power centre", it was the appearance of impropriety—a finance minister flouting the very regulations he is supposed to uphold—which proved the ambitious Mr Mahat´s undoing. It did not matter, in this instance, that the Foreign Currency Regulations Act 1962 is an anachronistic law from a different era, meant to keep hard currency within the country back when no one believed that Nepalis were capable of earning money abroad.
Somewhat more than USD 46,846 was involved in the "LC Scam" which the Mahat episode served to sideline. Indeed, Mr Mahat´s was a minor possible misdemeanor (for he pleads innocence) compared to what has been collectively wrought by those involved in the thirty-million-dollar scandal, in which hard currency was sent out of the country on the basis of letters of credit (LC) opened to import goods that never actually arrived. What has been most surprising is the silence from all quarters on the matter.
Even the usually combative Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), one of whose MPs intercepted Mr Mahat´s bank statement in the postal system, has chosen to look the other way. And the unwillingness of anyone to speak up in Parliament, which is in session, leads to speculation that there is a gentleman´s agreement to bury the investigation. A sincere probe would splatter mud on every party.