Nepal, June 27 -- Corruption is a fact of life the world over. Even Denmark and New Zealand, which have jostled for the distinction of being the cleanest country for the past four years in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) prepared by Transparency International have managed a maximum score of only 91 (in 2015) out of the possible 100 for a 'very clean' country (with zero being 'highly corrupt'). For the record, Nepal stood 124th in 2018 with a score of 31 while Somalia brought up the rear at 180th and a score of just 10.

Hence, there is nothing new about stories of graft that circulate via the press, word of mouth or, increasingly, through social media. A recent assessment in the Nepali Times newspaper was brutally blunt in that the...