President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the Constitution amendment bill to implement the new map including areas of Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh on Thursday.
President Bhandari authenticated the bill that changes the coat of arms in the Constitution in accordance to the new map after the bill was adopted unanimously by the National Assembly earlier on Thursday. The bill has now become part of the Constitution after the authentication. It will also be published in the Nepal Gazette.
A total of 57 National Assembly members were present during the meeting on Thursday and all of them voted in support of the bill, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timalsina announced after the meeting. The National Assembly currently has 58 members.
Law Minister Shiva Maya Tungbahamphe presented the bill for endorsement after clause-wise discussion on the bill on Thursday. The bill was tabled in the National Assembly on Sunday. No amendment proposal was lodged against the bill.
The House of Representatives (HoR) on Saturday had unanimously adopted the Constitution amendment bill to change the coat of arms in accordance to the new map.
Speaker Agni Sapkota presented the bill to the House for voting. A total of 258 lawmakers signed in support of the bill while no one opposed it. Nobody abstained while 12 lawmakers were not present in the House at the time of voting.
The government on May 20 published the new map including Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura. The territorial area of Nepal has increased by 335 square kilometers with inclusion of the territory up to Limpyadhura.
The government then registered the Constitution amendment bill to amend the schedule of the Constitution, wherein the map in the coat of arms does not include the territory including Limpiyadhura, to implement the new map.
Law Minister Shiva Maya Tungbahamphe had presented the bill to the House on May 31. Deliberation on the bill started Tuesday afternoon. A total of 84 lawmakers spoke on the bill. The lawmakers were then given 72 hours to lodge amendment proposal on the bill and the deadline expired at 8:30 Friday evening.
Socialist Party lawmaker Sarita Giri was the only one to lodge an amendment proposal against the bill and she did not took it back despite being instructed by her party to withdraw her proposal with a warning of action.
Speaker Agni Sapkota stepping on clauses 112(b and c) of the House of Representatives (HoR) regulations rejected the proposal. Any amendment proposal should not be against the inherent principles of the bill, and should not be unclear and meaningless, according to the clauses.
Giri left the House after her amendment proposal was rejected and Speaker Sapkota refused to allot time to her to speak at that instance.
Many lawmakers of all the parties in the federal parliament then spoke during the clause-wise discussion on the amendment bill. All of them swore by national unity on the issue of nationalism and territorial integrity and pledged to support the bill. They also urged the government to take back the encroached territory after endorsement of the new map.
The government on May 18 passed the new map including Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura after inauguration of the Indian road via Lipu Lekh on May 8.
The Foreign Ministry has already expressed regret over the unilateral construction and urged India to refrain from carrying out any activity inside the territory of Nepal. It then summoned the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed a diplomatic note conveying Nepal's position on the issue.
Nepal has consistently maintained that as per the Sugauli Treaty (1816), all the territories east of Kali (Mahakali) River, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh, belong to Nepal.
Nepal had also expressed its disagreement in 2015 through separate diplomatic notes addressed to the governments of both India and China when the two sides agreed to include Lipu Lekh Pass as a bilateral trade route without Nepal’s consent in the Joint Statement issued on 15 May 2015 during the official visit of the Prime Minister of India to China.
