The Land Revenue Office, Kalanki on December 5 had issued a notice in the state-run Gorkhapatra daily to such tillers and tenants to come up with necessary documents for registration of lands as per the October 18 cabinet decision.[break]
In a letter obtained by Republica, the government has claimed that the ownership of some lands have not been transferred while some of such lands have already been registered in the name of concerned tillers and tenants in accordance with a notice published in the gazette on September 29, 1969.
The government has also claimed that the decision was taken in accordance with Birta (Fiefdom) Abolition Act, 2016; Birta Abolition Regulation, 2017; and Land related Act, 2019.
The proposal to register such lands in the name of tillers and tenants was tabled by the Prime Minister´s Office (MPO) in the cabinet on August 27.
According to the letter, the bill committee on September 10 had decided to form a five-member sub-committee headed by secretary of the Office of Nepal Trust and had also entrusted the sub-committee with submitting its report within a month after studying the existing laws.
The PMO on October 30 had sent a letter to Office of Nepal Trust regarding the cabinet´s decision. Then the Ministry of Land Reform and Management sent a letter to the Land Revenue Office, Kalanki on November 7 asking it to implement the decision.
A report by Shiva Kumar Giri in 2010 had suggested to the government to amend existing laws in order to transfer ownership of lands from the Nepal Trust to tillers and tenants.
In a suggestion in writing, the office of Attorney General on April 6, 2011 had suggested that the government should take a policy level decision to resolve the issue stating that there is no provision in the existing laws that allows ownership transfer of the lands of Nepal Trust to any person or organization.
Spokesperson for Nepal Trust Sharad Raj Bishta said that the lands owned by the trust cannot be given to anyone. "The lands have come under the ownership of the Nepal Trust only after confirming that they belonged to former king Birendra, queen Aishwarya and their children," he added.
A senior government official said on the condition of anonymity that the government decision was intended to distribute public properties to cadres of political parties.
According to the Nepal Trust, it has owns a total of 181 plots covering 5064 ropani, 13 ana, 1 paisa 1 dam lands [257 hectres approximately]
Nepal Trust Act was enforced on January 6, 2008 in order to bring all assets of former king Birendra, queen Aishwarya their children under trust in accordance with article 159 (1) of the Interim constitution.
Related story
ERC sets a limit on how much house owners can charge tenants fo...
