KATHMANDU, Aug 5: A special parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the controversy surrounding the cooling-off period provision in the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2080 BS, has submitted its report to Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire.
The committee, led by Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Jeevan Pariyar, was tasked with probing the irregularities related to the cooling-off period inserted during the drafting of the bill.
In its report, the committee has held Ramhari Khatiwada, chair of the House Committee on State Affairs and Good Governance, primarily responsible for the error. The report, finalized on Tuesday morning, also concludes that both Chairperson Khatiwada and Committee Secretary Suraj Kumar Dura should take moral responsibility for the mistake.
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The report was handed over to Speaker Ghimire during an event held at Shankar Hall in the Federal Parliament Building, New Baneshwor.
The investigation committee, which held three consecutive days of meetings, finalized the report at around 4 AM on Tuesday. The finalization session became tense due to disagreements between lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties. At one point, a physical confrontation nearly broke out among members, prompting Chairperson Pariyar to intervene.
The Federal Civil Service Bill, 2080 BS, had been endorsed by the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on May 16 but was only tabled in the House of Representatives (HoR) for discussion on June 15. The House passed the bill on June 29, but the provision related to the cooling-off period sparked controversy.
Although the committee had agreed on a two-year period, the final version of the bill contained ambiguous language that could be interpreted in more than one way.
Due to the growing controversy, HoR had formed a special investigation committee to look into the matter.
The committee led by Jeevan Pariyar included Susheela Thing from the NC; Ishwari Gharti and Narayan Prasad Acharya from CPN-UML; Madhav Sapkota from CPN (Maoist Center); Ganesh Parajuli from the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Roshan Karki from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
