Kathmandu: Just ten months ago, Nepal’s current Prime Minister Sushila Karki was a guest on a popular podcast, speaking as the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. With characteristic bluntness, she tore into the country’s political system:
“There is no practice of democracy here. You can’t call this democracy – it’s the practice of corruption. Apart from corruption, irregularities, and nepotism, no other ‘ism’ exists. They’ve placed their own people in every village and corner. They stuff government offices with loyalists and loot freely. What do you expect when you hand office keys to corrupt people?”
Today, those same words are coming back to haunt her.
Since the “Gen-Z Movement” protests on 8–9 September forced a change in government, Sushila Karki has been Prime Minister. Yet three months into her tenure, she faces serious allegations of hypocrisy: she and her family are accused of illegally occupying government land right next to their private residence in Dhapasi, Tokha Municipality Ward No. 4, Kathmandu.
Local residents and ward officials say the Karki family has encroached on approximately 3 aana (roughly 95 square metres) of public land since at least 2016 – the very year she became Chief Justice. The land has been walled off and treated as part of their private property. According to Karki’s husband, Durga Prasad Subedi, temporary sheds were built on the plot for security personnel after she assumed the top judicial post.
Ward Chairperson Dharma Shrestha confirms that multiple official surveys have established the encroachment. “Even the Prime Minister herself has acknowledged it,” he told reporters. “She says she will return the land whenever the government asks – but so far, nothing has happened.”
Shrestha added that Karki continues to pay annual land tax at the ward office and has personally assured officials that the public land “fell inside her residence by mistake” and will be returned on demand.
Critics point out the irony: the woman who once claimed she could wipe out corruption in five days if given the chance has not returned the disputed plot even after 90 days in the country’s highest executive office.
Tokha Municipality Mayor Prakash Adhikari says an investigation is underway and the municipality is prepared to use force if necessary to reclaim public land. “We recently recovered 11 ropani by force and have protected 1,400 ropani during my tenure,” he said. He said that dialogue will be tried first. “But if that fails, we will take the land back, no matter who is involved.”
The Karki family insists they have not encroached on anyone else’s property and claims they are being unfairly targeted.
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