Kathmandu, February 18
Nine lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party have objected to a proposal that introduces a five-year time limit for filing corruption cases against government officials.
The government has recently registered two bills to amend the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act, introducing the time limit. However, NCP lawmakers Sher Bahadur Kunwar, Thagendra Prakash Puri, Udaya Sharma Paudel, Mina Budha, Yutol Tamang, Hari Charan Shiwakoti, Singha Bahadur Bishwakarma, Nanda Chapain and Ram Lakhan Harijan have filed an amendment proposal demanding the time limit be scrapped.
Kunwar says the anti-corruption body should be allowed to file a corruption case whenever it learns about the incident regardless of how old the case is. “Suppose someone is involved in corruption while in a powerful position, but how can we spare them after five years?” he questions.
“It may create a lot of problems. Maybe the issue does not come out in the first five years. People do not know many decisions. Issues of policy corruption take time to come out,” Kunwar argues, “Hence, the proposal for a time limit is not acceptable.”
