Amid controversy over tampering some of the provisions of the Civil Service Bill, the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee has requested the National Assembly to remove the clause that hinders the implementation of the 'cooling-off period' included in the bill.

After a heated debate on Wednesday, the committee has requested Speaker Devraj Ghimire to form a high-level parliamentary committee to look into the inclusion of a provision in the report on the Federal Civil Service Bill that dilutes the bill’s 'cooling-off period' mandate.

Following the discussion, the committee made two decisions. In its request to the National Assembly, the committee stated:

"A decision has been made to sincerely request the National Assembly to make necessary amendments to clause 43 of the report in accordance with the spirit in which the committee passed the provision related to the cooling-off period.”

The committee has also requested the Speaker to find out who inserted a provision that nullifies the committee’s decision.

"While preparing the report on the bill, representatives from the committee secretariat, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, and the Ministry of Law were involved in drafting clauses that rendered the provision ineffective. This act appears to be conspiratorial and malicious in the context of lawmaking. Therefore, it has been decided to request the Speaker of the federal parliament to arrange for a high-level parliamentary committee to investigate who was involved and how serious mistakes or offences were committed,” reads the second decision.

Ramhari Khatiwada, the committee chair, faced pressing questions from members at the meeting on Wednesday. Padam Giri of the CPN-UML asked him to resign as chairman. He also demanded that committee secretary Suraj Dura resign for tempering with the provision.

But Khatiwada defended his position and denied any role in altering the provision. Khatiwada was even targeted by his own party, Nepali Congress, during the discussion on Wednesday. Many lawmakers told him to step down as he holds moral responsibility for nullifying the “cooling off period” for top bureaucrats before taking constitutional and diplomatic assignments.

But Congress lawmaker Dilendra Prasad Badu said that Speaker Ghimire is not willing to form an investigation committee.

“I have requested the Speaker for support. But I don’t see the possibility of receiving that support. The bill has already been registered in the upper house. It is the minister who goes to present it [there]. Therefore, I want to tell the minister that now this committee will move forward with an amendment proposal,” said Badu, who is a member of the committee.

Ghimire was a CPN-UML lawmaker before his election as Speaker and the UML was in favour of removing the “cooling-off period” for top bureaucrats.

On the other hand, senior officials involved in the drafting process claimed that they were not allowed to see the final text.

A joint-secretary at the Ministry of General Administration, Mira Acharya said there was no discussion with the ministry regarding the “cooling-off period” provision in the bill.

"It was not us who finalised the report submitted by the committee secretariat," said Acharya. "While the sub-committee's report was discussed during the consultation, there was no mention of removing the clause under 82(4).”

Acharya explained that even when reviewing sub-clause 4, the issue of resignation in relation to retirement had not been previously included. From that point on, Acharya added, she was no longer involved, denying knowledge of what happened next. She claimed that when she sought the report for a look, it was not provided to her.

"In such a situation," she questioned, "how did the Ministry of Federal Affairs get involved at all?"

Joint-secretary at the Ministry of Law Subash Bhattarai said he was not involved in the preparation of the final report. “We were not even invited for clause-by-clause discussion at the final stage,” Bhattarai said. “The provisions in sub-clause 5 were neither removed nor added by us.”

Both Acharya and Bhattarai were in the process of drafting the bill representing their respective ministries. Khatiwada said, “My integrity and reputation have been put into question, but this action happened without my involvement. Even before, I had insisted that a two-year cooling-off period must be implemented. The subcommittee also recommended two years instead of one. The failure to align that clause appears to have occurred from the Ministry of Law and the secretariat’s secretary,” he said. Khatiwada added that the report containing this provision had been handed over to Minister of General Administration Rajkumar Gupta.

Chief Whip of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Hit Raj Pandey said there was conspiracy surrounding the “cooling-off period”. Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, Pandey said the issue of the cooling-off period is not new, and described the recent tampering as not just interference, but a well thought out conspiracy.

Rajendra Prasad Pandey, a Member of Parliament from the CPN (Unified Socialist), said that the manipulation surrounding the cooling-off period has dented the integrity of lawmakers in public imagination. Speaking at the same meeting, Pandey said this was not merely an error, but an act of misconduct, and called for an impartial investigation into the matter.