The parliamentarians have started 'lobbying' to enact a law to ban anonymous complaints saying that people are suffering. While proposing an amendment to the Bill on the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, they have insisted on a provision to attach the complainant's citizenship certificate along with the complaint.

Congress MPs Purna Bahadur Tamang and Rama Koirala Paudel have proposed to remove the provision of 'Benami' complaints from the Bill on Authority which is under discussion in the State Order and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives. Congress MP Sunil Kumar Sharma is also among those who put forward such a proposal. He proposed that the bill should contain the provision that the person making the

complaint must submit proof of his identity. United Samajwadi Party MP Rajendra Prasad Pandey has proposed a provision to penalize the complainant if found wrong while studying the complaint. 

Member of Parliament Tamang, who is also the Minister of State for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, argued that the people are suffering only because of the anonymous complaints in the committee's meeting on October 30. He said that the photocopy of the citizenship of the person filing a complaint with the authority should be made mandatory. Talking to Kantipur, Minister of State Tamang said that from the day the provision of taking anonymous complaints is removed, real and factual complaints will be received in the authority.

"Due to anonymous complaints, the works being edited by government offices and construction professionals are being affected for no reason," he said, "Who doesn't understand why, a letter has been sent to the authority through some channel. He said that he is getting a positive response from other parliamentarians on the amendment proposal that he has submitted that complaints can only be made by revealing the identity. 

Maoist MP Madhav Sapkota also argued that 'Benami' complaints should not be taken in the committee meeting. He said that the complaint made by the complainant without mentioning his name would be false. "I have not formally made the amendment. But, let's say something with emphasis on the issue of anonymous complaints," he said in the meeting. "Keeping anonymous means default starts from there. That's why the name should be kept in the complaint.' 

The Chairman of the State Management Committee, Ramhari Khatiwada, said that formal/informal discussions are underway on how to manage the 'Benami' complaints. In fiscal year 2080/081, 36 thousand 186 complaints were filed with the Authority for corruption. Those complaints came through written, postal, website, email, telephone, Viber, Facebook, Hello Sarkar and others.

According to the annual report of the authority, only 1,050 files were investigated in detail by 'screening' complaints. Out of that, the authority has filed a special court case in only 201 files. 

State Minister Tamang argued that more than 70 percent of complaints will be reduced as soon as the provision of receiving anonymous complaints is removed. Khatiwada, the chairman of the State Law Committee, said that he would come to a conclusion after sufficient discussion on what arrangements would be appropriate to not take anonymous complaints or to bring those who made false complaints under the ambit of action. He said, "There will be further discussion in the committee even after the sub-committee reaches consensus on the issues raised in the Powers Bill and brings the report."

A sub-committee led by Hridayram Thani has been given the task of negotiating with the parliamentarians who proposed the amendment. Sub-committee coordinator Thani said that there was a strong vote on whether or not to take 'Benami' complaints. He mentioned that since both sides have rational opinions, they will reach a conclusion after discussion.

"One of them is showing practical problems caused by benami complaints, the other is saying that big cases have come out because of benami complaints and after removing benami complaints, there will be no complaints," said Thani, "We are in discussion." Whatever we do, we do it by consensus. He said that the sub-committee will submit a report to the committee after the by-elections at the local level. 

Suryanath Upadhyaya, the former chief commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, says that the matter of disclosing his name or not is a matter of his personal decision. "The argument that a complaint should be made without revealing all the identity including name, address, and the commission should only accept such a complaint is not correct," he said.

Upadhyaya said that the authority is getting information because of the anonymous complaint. If it is to be closed, the authority will not be able to work. The legitimacy of the authority is questioned," he said. "Anyone who sees wrongdoing in matters such as public development and construction can now file a complaint. Who will take the risk now that the provision of disclosure of names has been made? Who will come to file a complaint?' He says that there is no need to worry about the number of complaints due to the anonymous provision.

'What has gone wrong with so many complaints?' He said, 'The more complaints come, the more information will come. If there is a legal obligation to file a complaint only by revealing the identity, the complaint itself will be stopped. It promotes corruption.'  Upadhyaya said that there is also an international practice and recognition that the complainant should not disclose his name. The United Nations Convention against Corruption provides for the general public to have access to anti-corruption agencies anonymously to report any incident that may be considered a corruption offence. Nepal is a signatory country of the Convention. 

The bill to amend the Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission Act, 2048 has been pending in Parliament for five years. The government registered the bill in the National Assembly in January 2076. The National Assembly passed the bill in March 2079 and sent it to the House of Representatives.