Kathmandu — A parliamentary special investigation committee has concluded that deliberate manipulation was carried out in the Federal Civil Service Bill to render the “cooling-off period” provision ineffective. The finding, issued by the special probe committee of the House of Representatives, states that the inclusion of a contradictory clause in the bill was not a “human error” but an intentional act — a conclusion unanimously agreed upon by all seven committee members.

The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee had unanimously decided to include a provision under Clause 82 (4) of the bill stating:

“Civil servants or individuals who resigned or retired from other government services shall not be eligible for appointment to any constitutional or governmental position until two years have passed from the date of their retirement.”

Once this provision was included, a previously existing clause — which prohibited such individuals from being appointed to any post except for constitutional or diplomatic roles or other appointments made by the Government of Nepal — was supposed to be removed. However, it was retained under Clause 82 (5a), raising serious concerns.

In response to this contradiction, the House of Representatives formed a special probe committee led by Nepali Congress MP Jeevan Pariyar. Other members include Sushila Thing, Narayan Prasad Acharya, Ishwari Gharti, Madhav Sapkota, Ganesh Parajuli, and Roshan Karki. The committee is now in the final stages of drafting its report.

According to members of the probe committee, the report will specify who was involved in keeping the conflicting clause in the bill and recommend necessary actions against them. It will also make suggestions to prevent similar manipulation in the future.

One committee member noted that from the bill’s drafting to the parliamentary reporting stages, senior experienced officials from the Ministry of Law and General Administration, as well as the Parliament Secretariat, were involved. In addition, there were visible lobbying efforts against the cooling-off period by the Chief Secretary, the Secretary General of Parliament, and several other government secretaries — making it impossible to dismiss the issue as a mere technical oversight.

Another member stated that even during the State Affairs Committee meeting on Asar 18 (early July), suspicions of deliberate conspiracy and ill-intent were raised, ruling out the possibility of it being a simple error.

Committee coordinator Jeevan Pariyar confirmed that the final report would be submitted to the House of Representatives on Shrawan 19 (August 4).

“We’ll submit a report that identifies flaws in the cooling-off provision, recommends action against those involved, and outlines future safeguards,” he said.
“We’re finalizing the conclusions, and the committee is carefully analyzing facts and shaping its recommendations.”

At a committee meeting held Saturday, members discussed the exact roles played by various individuals in intentionally weakening the cooling-off period clause.

“Members have expressed views on who bears what level of responsibility. A Congress MP has said he will share his views on Sunday,” one member reported.

According to that source, the report drafting involved officials from the Ministry of Law and General Administration, the Chairperson of the State Affairs Committee Ramhari Khatiwada, Secretary Suraj Kumar Dura, and several others. Following the bill’s approval by the committee, Chief Secretary Eknarayan Aryal, along with two dozen secretaries and Parliament Secretary General Padma Prasad Pandey, were actively lobbying against the cooling-off provision.

While undersecretaries were still preparing the report, the Chief Secretary, Secretary General, and other secretaries threatened collective resignation and lobbied top political leaders, including then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. They also publicly confronted Secretary Dura of the State Affairs Committee in front of Speaker Devraj Ghimire and National Assembly Chair Narayan Prasad Dahal.

“Such actions clearly influenced the law-making process,” one committee member stated.

The special committee plans to discuss punitive actions against responsible officials during its Sunday meeting. Clause 3 of the committee’s mandate explicitly directs it to recommend disciplinary measures.

“We’ve finished analyzing the facts and are now evaluating individual responsibilities to draw final conclusions,” the member added.

To support its investigation, the committee has consulted constitutional expert Kashiraj Dahal and legal professionals from the Office of the Attorney General. It has also summoned IT and computer experts from Nepal Police.

The House of Representatives had formed this special committee on Asar 23 (July 7) with an initial 21-day mandate to investigate the controversial provision in the civil service bill. Since the probe could not be completed on time, the deadline was extended by a week. The committee includes two members each from the ruling Nepali Congress and UML, and one each from the opposition parties — Maoist Center, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).