The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives on Friday unanimously decided to remove the proposed provision of five-year statute of limitations on corruption cases in the bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002.
The decision was made during the committee's meeting held at Singha Durbar, Kathmandu.
Ramhari Khatiwada, Chairman of the committee and a Nepali Congress lawmaker, introduced the proposal to remove the five-year time limit for corruption investigations.
The proposal received full support from committee members including Purna Bahadur Khadka, Rabi Lamichhane, Gagan Thapa, Chitra Bahadur KC, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, Buddhi Bahadur Tamang, Raghuji Pant, Prakash Adhikari, Sarita Prasai, Dilendra Prasad Badu, Rajendra Pandey, Durga Rai, Hitraj Pandey, Krishna Gopal Shrestha and Ashok Rai among others.
Hitraj Pandey, Chief Whip of the CPN (Maoist Centre), confirmed to NBA that leaders from all parties unanimously agreed to remove the proposed five-year statute of limitations.
Pandey, However, said that there were some provisions in the bill which required further discussion.
Nepali Congress lawmaker Ambika Basnet criticised the previous five-year limitation as unacceptable, saying, “Imposing such a time limit increases the chances of the offenders escaping justice when their crimes go unnoticed for five years."
The committee’s decision follows widespread criticism of the statute of limitations from all quarters, including the lawmakers of major political parties.
The National Human Rights Commission had also urged the committee, in writing, to not to impose a statute of limitations on corruption cases.
The bill was initially registered in the National Assembly on January 20, 2020. It was endorsed by the Upper House in March last year and registered in the Lower House in April 2023.
