The government has formed a high-level investigation committee headed by former chief secretary Shanker Das Bairagi to probe the visit visa issue.
A Cabinet meeting held on Monday at the prime minister's residence in Baluwatar made the decision.
According to Cabinet sources, the investigation committee will include joint secretaries from the Home, Tourism, Labor, and Foreign Ministries as members. The committee has been given three months to investigate the matter and submit its report.
The committee will investigate irregularities related to visit visas at the Immigration Office of Tribhuvan International Airport.
Earlier, the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML and the main opposition party CPN (Maoist Center) signed a two-point agreement on June 13 following repeated obstructions to House of Representatives meetings over the visit visa issue.
The first point of the agreement states: "The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is investigating matters related to visit visas and immigration. The CIAA will conclude this investigation. The government of Nepal will provide necessary cooperation for investigation as requested by the commission."
The second point says, "The government of Nepal commits to conducting necessary studies and investigations into the long-standing problems related to immigration and visit visas and taking concrete steps for policy, legal, and structural reforms."
Initially, opposition parties including the Maoist Center, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and CPN (Unified Socialist) had demanded the resignation of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and the formation of an inquiry commission or parliamentary investigation committee over the visit visa issue.
However, as the NC and UML were not in favor of fulfilling those demands, the Maoist Center and Unified Socialist softened their stance.
The RSP and RPP, however, have rejected the two-point agreement and continue to obstruct Parliament, insisting on the formation of an investigation committee or probe commission on the issue.
