KATHMANDU: Suraj Kumar Dura, Secretary of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of Parliament, has clarified that his endorsement of the Federal Civil Service Bill, particularly the contentious cooling-off period clause, was based on a draft approved by the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration.
Appearing before the parliamentary probe committee led by Nepali Congress lawmaker Jeevan Pariyar, Dura stated that he had signed the draft report only after it was finalized in consultation with the concerned ministries.
“The final draft of the report was circulated to all relevant parties,” Dura said in his statement. “Both ministries had reached a consensus on the language, so I, representing the Secretariat, agreed as well.”
He noted that Meera Acharya from the Ministry of General Administration and Subash Kumar Bhattarai from the Law Ministry were involved in the drafting process from the beginning. According to Dura, many committee members trusted the Ministry of Law’s input more than that of the Secretariat.
Dura further stated that during a committee meeting held on May 16, in the presence of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, the government agreed to a provision requiring retired civil servants to observe a two-year cooling-off period before taking up other constitutional or government positions. The committee unanimously approved the provision at that time.
However, an informal meeting held on May 20 at the Secretariat stalled the signing process. It wasn’t until May 27, after Committee Chair Ramhari Khatiwada signed the draft, that Dura also signed it in his capacity as Secretary.
“After subcommittee and committee discussions, it is the responsibility of the ministries to finalize the draft. We have a long-standing practice of signing documents vetted by the Ministry of Law,” he said.
Dura also claimed that during the meeting in question, Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, the Law Secretary, and the Secretary of the General Administration Ministry had all expressed support for removing the cooling-off period provision. He said there is an official record of these statements.
He added that he had provided a copy of the report to Parliament Secretary General Padya Prasad Pandey, which was then used to arrange a meeting with the Speaker of the House.
Dura, in his statement, maintained that he had signed the bill based solely on the draft forwarded by the ministries and made no independent alterations to the content, distancing himself from any alleged manipulation in the removal of the cooling-off clause.
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