KATHMANDU, June 24: The government is preparing to allow four of the eight ordinances it issued to lapse.
After four ordinances were endorsed on Thursday, replacement bills have also been registered in Parliament on Monday.
The remaining four ordinances, which are set to be rendered inactive, are being prepared for later registration as new bills after the 60-day constitutional deadline expires. These four bills have not been advanced due to expected resistance in the National Assembly over the controversy surrounding them.
If the replacement bills are not passed by July 10, the ordinances will automatically become inactive.
July 10 marks the completion of 60 days since the ordinances were tabled in both houses of the federal Parliament. The ordinances were presented in both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly on May 11. According to parliamentary procedure, after July 10, to keep the ordinances in effect, the replacement bills must be passed within the deadline, parliamentary secretariat officials said.
Stack of bills stalled in National Assembly
Article 114 (2)(a) of the Constitution of 2015 states that ordinances issued must be presented in both houses of the federal Parliament, and if both houses do not approve them, they automatically become inactive.
According to government sources, preparations are underway to let four ordinances lapse. These ordinances were not placed on the agenda of the lower house after it became clear they would fail in the upper house, the National Assembly.
A government official said that instead of proceeding with them, they are now being allowed to lapse and the process of drafting new bills based on the same provisions has begun. According to sources at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, three new bills are expected to be registered on July 11.
These include the Constitutional Council (Functions, Duties, Powers and Procedures) First Amendment Ordinance 2026, the Certain Nepal Acts Amendment Ordinance 2026, and the University-related Certain Nepal Acts Amendment Ordinance 2026, which are planned to be registered as bills.
However, the Special Provision Related to Vacancy of Public Office Holders Ordinance 2026 is expected to be allowed to lapse without being reintroduced as a bill.
This ordinance had amended 110 different laws at once and scrapped 1,594 posts of public officeholders and political appointees. Since these positions have already been abolished, there is no need to reintroduce it as a bill, Ministry of Law sources said.
Legal experts say that while a bill passed by the House of Representatives can still be sent for presidential authentication even if rejected by the National Assembly, ordinances cannot proceed if both houses do not approve them.
In Nepal’s parliamentary history, it is rare for ordinances issued by the government to be formally rejected or defeated through a rejection motion in Parliament. Generally, Parliament does not pass formal rejection motions to nullify ordinances; instead, they are allowed to expire automatically.
Under Nepal’s constitutional arrangement, both in the 1990 and 2015 Constitutions, ordinances automatically become inactive if Parliament does not approve them within 60 days of the commencement of the session. Parliamentary secretariat officials say parties usually prefer this route of automatic expiry to block ordinances.
Earlier, the government had initiated the process of issuing an ordinance to release political activists and leaders, including Resham Chaudhary, from prison through the Criminal Procedure Code (First Amendment) Ordinance 2023. However, since the President did not issue the ordinance, the government could not proceed with it.
In Nepal, the practice of introducing ordinances bypassing Parliament has been increasingly observed.
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