The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives has agreed to remove the five-year statute of limitations for corruption cases from the bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002.
The committee’s meeting held on Friday unanimously decided not to include the proposed statute of limitations for corruption cases in the bill.
Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak said that the committee on Friday finalized the issue regarding statute of limitations in the bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002.
“There were many issues in this bill that needed to be discussed and finalized. Among them, the issue of limitations was the most discussed and talked about," Home Minister Lekhak said. "We finalized that issue today. I had submitted the proposal on behalf of the government to remove the five-year statute of limitations from the date of receiving information for investigation of corruption. And it was unanimously passed by the committee.”
Lawmakers from Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party had also proposed amendments opposing the statute of limitations.
Speaking in the House of Representatives meeting on Thursday, NC General Secretary Gagan Thapa had said that he had also proposed an amendment to the bill, and that the provision regarding statute of limitations would be removed.
The bill was registered in the National Assembly on January 20, 2020, when the then Nepal Communist Party was heading the government. It was passed by the National Assembly in March 2023 and registered in the House of Representatives in April 2023.
