House Panel Forms Subcommittee to Probe Election Police Uniform Deals
The House Public Accounts Committee has set up a nine-member subcommittee led by Manish Jha to examine allegations of financial irregularities in procuring uniforms for election police.
The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives has formed a nine-member parliamentary subcommittee to examine allegations of financial irregularities in the purchase of uniforms for election police. Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Manish Jha will head the inquiry, which has been given two months to submit its report.
Annapurna Post reported that the House panel took up the matter after receiving formal complaints alleging irregularities exceeding Rs 600 million in the procurement of clothing for temporary police personnel mobilized during parliamentary elections. Committee chairman Bharat Bahadur Khadka stated that the panel would move ahead by taking into account feedback on the complaints.
According to Onlinekhabar, the dispute traces back to uniform procurements initiated by Nepal Police in January ahead of the parliamentary elections. The security forces had enlisted 149,090 temporary police personnel—133,980 under Nepal Police and 15,110 under the Armed Police Force—for a 40-day deployment. Police officials cited by the outlet said roughly Rs 1 billion was released for uniforms, with per-person clothing allocations set at Rs 11,500 in mountainous areas, Rs 7,945 in hilly regions, and Rs 6,170 in the Tarai. Complaints soon emerged across multiple state bodies alleging that recruits were provided substandard attire.
The formation of the sub-committee followed heated discussions during Friday's committee meeting. Deshsanchar reported that lawmakers debated whether to designate the team as a formal probe panel or a preliminary study group. In the meeting, RSP lawmaker Khagendra Sunar criticized the parliamentary panel's previous inaction, questioning why committee members were kept in the dark about whether police headquarters had submitted requested procurement files within an earlier 15-day deadline.
Clickmandu reported that Sunar warned the committee against yielding to pressure from security leadership, recalling the past Sudan peacekeeping scam that resulted in the conviction of former police chiefs. Sunar maintained that if evidence establishes wrongdoing by police officials, the matter should immediately be forwarded to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. While Sunar sought to head the sub-committee, several members argued that his aggressive pursuit of the issue mirrored a complainant's stance; after consultations, he was named as a member alongside eight other lawmakers, Annapurna Post noted.
Meanwhile, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chief Whip Khushbu Oli cautioned that the parliamentary body must ground its findings on verified records, official statements, and security agency submissions rather than outside chatter or social media speculation, Deshsanchar reported. Besides Jha, Sunar, and Oli, the panel includes Ain Mahar, Yogesh Gauchan Thakali, Aren Rai, Ramesh Kumar Malla, Ganesh Dhimal, and Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.