The National Vigilance Centre (NVC) has issued an urgent notice on mandatory asset declarations under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059. The law requires persons holding public office to disclose property held in their own name and in the names of specified family members, including the source of such assets. The Centre said monitoring has shown that the number of officials and employees failing to submit declarations has been increasing, and it has asked ministries and other public bodies to ensure compliance for FY 2082/83.
Under the notice, eligible public officials and employees must submit their asset declarations from 2083/04/01 to 2083/05/29 to the legally designated authority. Except in legally recognized special circumstances, declarations received after the deadline are to be treated as not submitted. Newly appointed officials must submit their declaration within 60 days of assuming office. The notice also says officials who were fined Rs 10,000 for failing to submit the previous fiscal year’s declaration must still file the current year’s statement, with payment status of the earlier fine recorded in the online system.
Government agencies must maintain both physical and electronic records of declarations and upload the required information to the NVC-operated online software. For local governments, sealed asset-declaration envelopes must be transferred to the respective Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers within three days after the filing deadline, while provincial authorities must forward consolidated hard-copy and soft-copy records to the NVC within the prescribed period. Office chiefs are responsible for ensuring timely filing, proper registration, secure recordkeeping and accurate contact information for employees covered by the requirement.
The NVC warned that officials who fail to submit property statements within the legal deadline may be referred to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for action under Section 50(3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Relevant notices and information have also been made available through www.nvc.gov.np.
