The parliamentary panel constituted to probe the tampering with the cooling-off provisions in the Federal Service Bill has started developing its report after quizzing the ministers, lawmakers and officials associated with the bill drafting process.

The seven-member panel formed on July 7 was given 21 days to complete its task. However, its failure to meet the deadline prompted Speaker Devraj Ghimire to extend the term by a week starting Sunday.

“We have already recorded statements from the ministers concerned, members of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, government officials including chief secretary and general secretary of the Parliament Secretariat,” Rosan Karki, a member of the probe committee representing Rastriya Prajatantra Party, told the Post.

Probe committee members say the government officials have admitted to have met with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and other top political leaders before the bill was presented in House and lobbied in the parliamentary committee to remove the cooling-off period provision that bars them from taking other government or constitutional posting immediately after their retirement or resignation. “It is not unnatural for interest groups to lobby for their benefit,” Karki said. “But whether that actually resulted in the tampering is a question we are digging into.”

The controversy emerged after lawmakers discovered that the version of the bill passed by the plenary of the lower house included a clause on the cooling-off period that contradicted the version unanimously approved by the committee.

The original clause required government officials to wait for at least two years after resignation or retirement before taking up political appointments—a provision aimed at ensuring ethical transitions in public service.

However, the final version passed by the House reversed this restriction, raising concerns over procedural transparency and potential political interference.

The members of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, including its chair Ram Hari Khatiwada, claim the controversial provision was sneaked into the bill before it was presented in the lower house for endorsement.

Section 82(4) of the bill states that any government employee who has resigned or retired must have completed at least two years before taking another public appointment.

However, alongside the committee’s decision, a sub-section 82 (5) has been incorporated into the bill that runs contrary to the earlier clause, allowing civil servants to take another government appointment within two years of their resignation or retirement.

The probe committee led by Nepali Congress lawmaker Jeevan Pariyar has been entrusted with four specific tasks—finding how the tampering occurred; its reasons; identifying the persons involved in the tampering; and recommending corrective measures.

“Ours is a fact-finding panel, not a judicial committee that can implicate someone,” Ganesh Karki, another member of the committee from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, told the Post. “Hopefully, it will identify the person responsible for altering the bill. However, it is an open secret,” he added without elaborating.

The House of Representatives is investigating the tampering in the bill while the National Assembly is set to discuss the bill which has received 230 amendment proposals from 46 lawmakers.

Three different kinds of amendments have been registered in the bill by different parties. While the CPN-UML wants the cooling-off period removed, the CPN (Maoist Centre) has proposed removing the “tampered sub-section” and increasing the cooling-off duration to three years from two. The Maoist Centre is the largest party in the upper house. Nepali Congress lawmakers are for removing the “tampered part.”