Kathmandu, July 9 -- The Property Inquiry Commission, chaired by a former Supreme Court justice Rajendra Kumar Bhandari, has begun preliminary investigations after receiving thousands of asset declarations and specific public complaints.

By Wednesday evening, the commission had received comprehensive asset declarations from around 13,000 public officials and registered about 1,500 individual complaints. The deadline for submissions is July 14. Of the around 25,000 public officials who are required to disclose their assets, only about half have complied so far. Meanwhile, some retired justices have publicly said they will boycott the entire process and would not submit their property details.

The Bhandari-led panel includes former Suprem...