KATHMANDU, Nov 15: Prime Minister Sushila Karki and her cabinet colleagues have submitted their property details to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM). However, the details submitted have been kept confidential as of Friday evening.
The property details of PM Sushila Karki, Minister for Finance Rameshore Khanal, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Kulman Ghising, Minister for Home Affairs Om Prakash Aryal, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Anil Kumar Sinha, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Mahabir Pun, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Madan Prasad Pariyar and Minister for Youth and Sports Bablu Gupta have been listed on the OPMCM website.
According to the website, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel and Minister for Health and Population Sudha Gautam have not submitted their property details. PM Karki, appointed on September 12, expanded the Cabinet in three phases—on September 15, September 22 and October 26.
Why have PM Deuba and his ministers not disclosed their propert...
The website states that the property details of the PM and cabinet members have been received and categorized under separate sections. However, upon opening these sections, only the phrase “property details received” is displayed.
According to Section 31 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2048 BS, the PM and ministers must submit their property details within 60 days of assuming office and again within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year. PM Karki submitted her details three days after the submission deadline had expired. Although the OPMCM has confirmed that ministers have submitted their details as required by law, these records have not been made public. Experts say the decision to publish or withhold property details depends on ethical considerations.
Which governments made property details public?
The government formed after the 2017 parliamentary elections made public the property details of then-PM KP Sharma Oli and his ministers. At that time, then–Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sher Bahadur Tamang publicly released his property details himself.
Although the ministers initially appointed under the Oli government made their property details public, those added later left office without doing so. A notice published in the Nepal Gazette on July 4, 2018, stated that the PM, ministers, state ministers, and assistant ministers must submit their property details to the OPMCM. However, the Gazette did not specify whether these details must be made public.
After the 1990 People’s Movement, the government formed under Girija Prasad Koirala made its first decision requiring the PM and ministers to make their property details public within 15 days of assuming office. Sher Bahadur Deuba was Home Minister at the time and made his details public accordingly.
Subsequent governments continued this practice, except for the administration led by Khil Raj Regmi in March 2013, which did not release the property details of any Cabinet member. In later governments, some PMs and ministers made their property details public, while others did not.
