Parliamentary Chair Warns Against Misuse of Delegated Power

Kathmandu: Maya Prasad Sharma, Chairman of the Delegated Legislation and Government Assurances Committee, has stated that the misuse of delegated authority is negatively affecting the country's good governance.

Speaking at a National Assembly meeting on Monday, Chairman Sharma said that agencies using delegated powers must fulfill their duties and accountability within the general principles, limits, values, and scope of delegated legislation. He mentioned that doing so would significantly contribute to the development of good governance in the country.

He noted that while it is the responsibility of all agencies to make independent decisions when creating delegated legislation, this is often not followed in practice. Sharma said that when drafting delegated legislation, the government and other agencies sometimes ignore principles and limits, exercising authority without considering their official responsibilities and accountability.

Chairman Sharma stated that when the government presents bills to Parliament, it often proposes many ordinary matters as delegated legislation. He explained that after Parliament and parliamentary committees reject such proposals, a situation arises where four or five specific issues are excessively included in delegated legislation.

According to Sharma, this undermines Parliament's authority to make laws and harms the improvement of good governance. He emphasized that to solve this problem, Parliament must strictly control delegated powers while passing bills.

He said that because the government proposes many simple matters as delegated legislation and parliamentary committees reject them, these issues end up being packed into delegated legislation. 

This splits the law-making power of Parliament and negatively impacts the country's governance. He concluded that the best solution is for Parliament to control these delegated powers during the bill-passing process.