KATHMANDU: The Federal Parliament is set to announce a parliamentary probe committee today to investigate the mysterious removal of the “cooling-off period” provision from the recently passed Federal Civil Service Bill.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire will inform the House of Representatives about the formation of the committee and read out the names of its members.

The committee will comprise two members each from the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, and one member each from the opposition CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

The controversy erupted after the two-year cooling-off period provision—which barred former civil servants from being appointed to constitutional bodies or other government positions immediately after retirement—was found to be missing in the final version of the bill passed by the House.

The clause had been unanimously endorsed by the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee during its detailed review.

Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties have demanded a full investigation, calling the omission a serious breach of legislative integrity.

They have stressed the need to establish who was responsible for the change between the committee stage and the House approval.

Committee chair Ramhari Khatiwada has expressed readiness to take responsibility if found at fault, saying he would step down from his position if proven guilty of any wrongdoing.

The probe committee is expected to begin its work immediately and submit its findings within a specified timeframe.