Accordingly, the prime minister´s office on Thursday wrote to the Home Minister directing that the police officers shall continue in their posts though they ´retired´ Wednesday after completing their 30-year service term, said a senior official at the Home Ministry.
The official said the prime minister had directed senior officials from his office just before departure from Tribhuvan International Airport for Egypt Tuesday. It has been learnt that the prime minister issued the directive following a phone call from Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala.
The 30-year service terms of DIGs Bharat GC and Bir Sharan Thapa, SSPs Arjun Mainali, Min Prasad Pandey, Indra Lal Prajapati and Jiwan Shrestha and DSPs Samba Basnet, Kamal Bahadur Karki and Robar Bahadur Basnet, among others, ended on Wednesday.
The prime minister´s directive is contrary to the decision of Home Minister Bhim Rawal who wanted the officers to retire.
An informal meeting of the cabinet on Thursday discussed in detail whether to extend the terms of the police officers but failed to take any decision as Minister Rawal remained adamant.
Rawal maintained that it would be morally difficult for him to extend the terms as the erstwhile government on April 15 relieved all senior APF and National Investigation Department (NID) officials including their chiefs under the 30-year service term policy. Earlier, the terms of 11 senior officers including then police chief Om Bikram Rana were not extended.
Minister Rawal has already tabled a proposal in the cabinet to implement the 30-year policy in the Nepal Police as well.
As per existing Nepal Police regulations, the government, if it deems necessary, can extend by two years the tenures of senior officers who have already served 30 years. The discretionary provision, however, has remained controversial as the government chose to extend the tenures of some officers while denying the same favor to many others.
Home Minister Rawal was alone in his stance as all ministers from the coalition partners including those from his own party, CPN-UML, had argued in favor of extending the terms.
“This is a coalition government. You must agree to extend the terms when coalition partners suggest it,” a source quoted Defense Minister Bidya Bhandari as saying during the meeting.
While Minister Rawal argued during the meeting that the terms of the 16 senior police officials including two DIGS had already terminated on Wednesday, ministers from the other coalition partners including Nepali Congress, Madhesi People´s Rights Forum and Sadbhawana Party said the terms should not be regarded as terminated.
Government spokesperson Shankar Pokharel said the decision on term extension will be taken once the prime minister returns home.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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