As many as 96 political parties are yet to notify the Election Commission (EC) about the status of submission of property details by their central committee members to the party headquarters.

Out of the 127 parties registered at the EC, only 31 parties have notified to the election body about the status of property detail submission by their central leaders.

The Act on Amendment and Integration of Political Parties-2017 requires central officials and members to submit their property details to the party office within 60 days of them being elected to the post.

The party’s central office has to publish the names of the members who submitted their property details and those who did not adhere to the regulation one month after the deadline.

If any official or member of the central committee fails to submit the details, the EC may fine them Rs10,000. The concerned party is fined Rs5,000 for failing to publish the details on time.

On September 26, the EC had decided to seek clarification from the political parties that failed to notify it about the property details as per the legal provision. In a letter to the parties, the poll body asked them to submit the status within a week after receiving the letter.

Deputy Attorney General Ghanashyam Ojha said most of the parties notified the EC that they had started collecting the details from their central committee members with some of them informing the poll body that they collected all the required details. “However, all four ‘national’ parties’ represented in the House of Representatives—Nepal Communist Party, Nepali Congress, Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal and Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum-Nepal—informed us that their central committee members had submitted property details and that they had put up a notice on their notice board,” he said. An RJP-N leader, however, said they were still collecting details.

The EC will crosscheck whether the information provided by the parties was authentic after the Tihar festival, Ojha said. All four national parties, however, submitted the notification to the EC after the deadline.

The NCP had formed its central committee in May and the party was registered at the EC on June 7. The Nepali Congress elected its new leadership at the 13th General Convention in March 2016.

The Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum-Nepal was formed in June 2015 after a merger between the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal and Federal Socialist Party-Nepal. The RJP-N was formed in April 2017 following a merger of six Madhes-centric parties.

Ojha said that they would submit the report in line with the information provided by the parties to the EC leadership. “The meeting of commissioners will decide on what to do regarding the parties who failed to notify the EC within the deadline,” he said.

Earlier, the EC had warned the parties that it would fine them as per the law if they continued to ignore the EC’s call. “We will take decisions in line with the law,” said Election Commissioner Narendra Dahal, without giving details.