KATHMANDU, March 2: The first amendment bill to prevent corruption, which was much debated over policy decisions and deadlines, has been finalized by the parliament after five years.
The National Assembly (NA) has endorsed the amendments made by the House of Representatives (HoR) to the bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059.
The NA's meeting on Sunday unanimously agreed to the amendments made by the HoR to the bill.
HoR had overturned the arrangement made by the National Assembly to keep the private sector under the purview of investigation by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The private sector had opposed the arrangement to keep it under the jurisdiction of the Authority by meeting the Prime Minister and ministers and even reaching the parliamentary committee.
Federal Civil Service Bill faces over 150 proposed amendments a...
The bill, which was registered in the Parliament on 20 January 2020 and passed by the National Assembly on 10 April 2023, was unanimously passed by the HoR on 17 February 2025 with amendments.
As the National Assembly approves the amendments made by the HoR, the bill will now be certified by the President.
According to the bill finalized by both houses, the CIAA will now be able to view telephone records or media details of the subjects under investigation of corruption. Likewise, the Authority will be able to obtain telephone records or media details with the permission of the court in the investigation of corruption.
The bill has a provision to obtain telephone records or media details to make it easier for the Authority to collect evidence in corruption cases.
Currently, only the police in the course of investigating criminal cases and the Department of Money Laundering Investigation in the course of investigating money laundering cases can view telephone records with the permission of the court.
NA passes four bills
The National Assembly has passed four bills in a single day.
The meeting held on Sunday has passed the Nepal Bar Council (Second Amendment) Bill. This originated in the National Assembly. Now this bill will go to the House of Representatives.
Apart from this, three more bills have been re-passed by the National Assembly.
The Corruption Prevention (First Amendment) Bill, the Secured Transactions (First Amendment) Bill and the Legislation Bill have been re-passed by the National Assembly.
