Committee coordinator and lawmaker Laxman Lal Karna, however, has continued to enjoy all the perks and facilities provided him in his capacity as coordinator of the committee although the committee's tenure hasn't been renewed since the last 18 months. He has been receiving various facilities at state expense on par with a minister of state. The probe panel was formed in June 2014.Karna is still using a Scorpio jeep provided him by the parliament secretariat and receiving 150 liters of fuel per month from the government. The committee's report is ready for submission to parliament and its tenure already expired in September 2014, but the report has not yet been submitted.
"The coordinator of the committee did not submit the report fearing he would lose the facilities he has been enjoying," said committee member Ram Narayan Bidari, venting his ire against Karna. Bidari said that the committee had already prepared its report within the deadline.
Coordinator Karna did not returned the Scorpio (Ba 1 Jha 8482) to the parliament secretariat even after resigning as a lawmakers back in August. "Karna even misused the jeep and continued taking government fuel when his party was carrying out strikes in Madhes and obstructive activities along the Nepal-India border," said a source at the parliament secretariat. But the parliament secretariat also appeared reluctant to discontinue the facilities as Karna argued that the committee was yet to finish its task.
Kamal Pangeni, another committee member, said that the speaker of parliament should look into the matter. "The speaker should have extended the committee's deadline as it was yet to submit its report to parliament," said Pangeni.
The committee had visited nine districts across the country, held interactions with the public, conducted a survey among the electorate and received complaints from various individuals, including lawmakers. However, no substantial evidence of irregularities in the election was found.
In a survey conducted by the committee, over 918 respondents had expressed their views about the fairness of the election.
A copy of the report obtained by Republica states that 200 respondents claimed irregularities in the CA election. Another 452 said the election was fair while 248 had mixed reactions. Similarly, respondents had mixed reactions concerning transparency during the transporting and storage of the ballot boxes. Among the respondents, 483 said the transporting and storage were fully reliable, while 274 expressed their doubts and 120 others said the process was biased.
The report has suggested using e-voting, forming an election government of national consensus and holding elections only between mid-March and mid-May. The report has also suggested a threshold system.
Similarly, the committee's report has suggested barring incumbent ministers from contesting parliamentary elections and barring any candidate from contesting from more than one electoral constituency. Similarly the report has suggested the candidates contesting parliamentary elections should have at least a bachelor's degree.
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