KATHMANDU: Nearly five months into office, the Rastriya Swatantra Party-led government has yet to advance a long-pending legal amendment aimed at preventing corruption from being shielded as Cabinet-level “policy decisions.”

The issue was raised during a meeting of Parliament’s State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on Thursday, where RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane stressed the need to clearly define what constitutes a policy decision.

Lamichhane said the lack of clarity could create problems for both governments and anti-corruption investigations. He argued that while ministers must be able to make legitimate policy decisions, the law should prevent administrative or potentially corrupt decisions from being disguised as policy matters.

CIAA Chief Commissioner Prem Kumar Rai said the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority currently has no legal authority to investigate corruption arising from collective Cabinet policy decisions because of provisions in Section 4 of the CIAA Act.

Under the existing provision, collective policy decisions made by the Cabinet or its committees are largely outside the CIAA’s jurisdiction. Critics argue that the loophole has allowed routine decisions, including those related to procurement and contracts, to be shifted to the Cabinet and potentially escape investigation.

An earlier parliamentary sub-committee had proposed defining policy decisions more narrowly. Under the proposal, public procurement decisions would not be treated as policy decisions unless the law specifically required Cabinet approval. Decisions intended to benefit particular individuals or institutions rather than the public would also be excluded.

However, the proposal was not incorporated when the bill reached the full committee.

CIAA officials say more than 30 percent of corruption cases involve decisions made under the guise of policy, highlighting the need for legal reform.

Committee chair Hari Dhakal said discussions were underway to introduce an amendment bill during the current parliamentary session. He said the Law Ministry was reviewing the issue following the CIAA’s request to expedite the process.

Former sub-committee coordinator Hridayaram Thani argued that the CIAA Act and the Corruption Prevention Act should be amended together. He warned that without giving the anti-graft body authority to investigate corruption at the policy level, powerful individuals could continue to enjoy impunity.

Despite its stated commitment to good governance, the RSP-led government has yet to bring the proposed amendment forward.