The Prime Minister, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Speaker have been made respondents in the writ petition.
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A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court against the government's decision to provide personal assistants to the Federal Parliament. Advocate Premraj Silwal filed the writ on Friday. The first hearing of the writ has been scheduled for Shrawan 11.
The writ names the Prime Minister, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Speaker as respondents.
According to the Nepal Gazette issued on Shrawan 4, the government, by exercising the authority granted by Section 25 of the Act on Remuneration and Facilities of Office Bearers and Members of the Federal Parliament, 2073, amended the schedule of the same Act and published a notice through the Gazette allowing federal parliamentarians to appoint one personal private secretary (PA).
The writ states that appointing a personal secretary “without any clear and defined qualifications, competence, experience, or examination, except for someone chosen or trusted by the parliamentarian themselves,” constitutes an abuse of state power.
The writ further claims that no Nepalese law has explicitly defined the duties, responsibilities, and authority of a personal private secretary. It argues that misuse of state funds contrary to or without the backing of law constitutes corruption. The writ demands that the decision made by the government, which was formed on the agenda of transparency and good governance, be halted through an interim order, citing that in the past, questions have been raised regarding personal private secretaries of parliamentarians and budgets related to their constituencies, but no transparency has been ensured.
The writ also claims that in the past, personal assistants in parliament have been implicated in the sale of red passports by parliamentarians, linked to the Bhutanese refugee scandal, and associated with illegal gold smuggling and other unlawful activities at Tribhuvan International Airport.
The writ further demands judicial intervention, stating that in the past, some parliamentarians did not appoint personal assistants at all (instead showing the citizenship and names of family members) and personally collected the salary, services, and facilities.
For economic austerity, the government led by Sushila Karki had even abolished the provision for personal private secretaries for parliamentarians on Ashoj 5, 2082.
The writ claims that the government cannot afford to spend on personal assistants when it is unable to allocate resources for citizens’ basic health, education, and minimum facilities.
