Kathmandu, June 3: The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee has urged House Speaker Devraj Ghimire to establish a high-level investigation panel to identify those involved in altering the Federal Civil Service Bill 2024 before its endorsement by the House of Representatives (HoR).
The bill stirred controversy following its passage on Sunday, particularly over Clause 82. Sub-clause 4 introduces a two-year ‘cooling-off’ period for retired civil servants, barring them from holding constitutional or governmental posts. However, Sub-clause 5 of the same clause undermines that restriction by allowing former secretaries and joint secretaries to assume such roles.
Committee Chair Ramhari Khatiwada informed lawmakers during the committee’s 83rd meeting on Wednesday that the committee formally decided to ask the Speaker to initiate a high-level investigation into the matter. Khatiwada confirmed that a group of lawmakers had already met Speaker Ghimire to request the probe.
“We have grounds to believe the bill was deliberately modified, as the version passed differs from what the committee had approved,” Khatiwada said. “As per our decision, we’ve formally asked Speaker Ghimire to create a panel to uncover who orchestrated this change.”
The committee also resolved to request the National Assembly to amend the bill, especially to address the conflicting provisions surrounding the cooling-off period.
Under the disputed Sub-clause 5 of Clause 82, civil servants of the special and first-class gazetted ranks are still eligible for constitutional, diplomatic, and international appointments. Originally, this provision appeared as Sub-clause 4, but after parliamentary backlash, it was repositioned as Sub-clause 5, while a new Sub-clause 4 was inserted—one that introduced the cooling-off period.
Members of the State Affairs Committee, who had earlier approved the revised draft of the bill, asserted that they had unanimously agreed to remove the earlier sub-clause that effectively negated the restriction on post-retirement appointments.
Khatiwada reiterated that the committee not only called for a probe into the tampering but also demanded a thorough investigation to expose those responsible for manipulating the bill.
People's News Monitoring Service