Law Minister for including NID under Prime Minister’s Office

Kathmandu: Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, Sobita Gautam, has suggested that it would be more appropriate to place the National Investigation Department under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers instead of under the Home Ministry.

Minister Gautam expressed this view in response to the questions raised by MPs during the theoretical and clause-wise discussions on the Bill to Revive the Previous Provisions of the Nepal Special Services Act, 2042, in the meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee under the House of Representatives today.

The bill concerning the restoration of previous arrangements has made provisions to place the department under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. She argued that the work of the intelligence department is specialised and of a higher level, given that the Home Ministry has assigned responsibilities of regular peace and security, crime investigation, and internal security to the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force. In the meeting chaired by committee president Hari Dhakal, the members emphasised that since the department was weak in terms of professional efficiency, there should be a legal provision to restructure it in a new way.

Bill passed

Today’s committee meeting has passed the bill to keep the department under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. MPs from the opposition parties, including Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (UML), and Nepali Communist Party (NCP), proposed an amendment suggesting that the department should remain under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the bill was passed by the majority in the meeting without considering their amendment proposals.

Now the bill will be presented in the parliament after its passage in the committee. Ganesh Kumar Bishwakarma, Yubaraj Dulal, and Sushila Khadka had proposed amendments to the bill, which was registered in the House of Representatives on July 29.