Corruption with an expiry date

The impractical five-year deadline for filing graft cases harms national interest.

It’s not a good sign for people to start questioning a government’s anti-corruption credentials barely a month after its formation. Yet they have choice but to do so with the government seemingly intent on giving a free pass to many corrupt officials and leaders. As per a bill currently under discussion in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of Parliament, a corruption case should be filed within five years of the knowledge of such an instance of corruption. (It is unclear who should have such knowledge.) Similarly, if an individual had been involved in corruption while being in a public position and could not be punished at the time, they too should be punished within five years of retirement. In fact, the bill was first registered by the then KP Sharma Oli government on January 20, 2020. It was passed and sent to Parliament on April 10, 2023. With Oli back in power, the bill, which is supposed to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 (2002 AD) has now again come to the centrestage.