KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 19

The home ministry has issued a new directive relating to crime record management and police clearance certificate, proposing some liberal provisions for applicants who were convicted for minor offences. The new directive was published in the Nepal Gazette yesterday.

Section 9 of the directive states that an applicant shall get police clearance certificate if he/ she has not committed any crime or if a criminal case filed against the applicant remains sub judice in the first jurisdiction of a court or quasi-judicial body, if the applicant faced indictment in a criminal offence but was later acquitted, if the applicant was convicted of child delinquency and has already served his/her sentence, if a person employed by a government agency was penalized for an action during service, but his job remained unaffected, then such an applicant will get his/her police clearance certificate without his/her previous conviction or indictment mentioned in the document. Similarly, if a person who was imposed only fine in any offence and he/she has already paid the fine or if a person who was slapped less than a year jail term in an offence and if he has already served the term, then such an applicant will also get his/her police report without his offence being mentioned in the character certificate.

If an applicant has been punished under Section 161 (3) of Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act has already served his/her sentence; and an applicant against whom a criminal case had been filed but the government has withdrawn the case; if a person indicted in criminal offence has been acquitted by the lower court but an appeal is sub judice at superior court, then such a person can also get clearance certificate.

Section 161 (3) of Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act stipulates: If a person while driving a motor vehicle in a circumstance where it does not appear likely to result in the death of any one meets with an accident resulting in the death of a person who is inside the motor vehicle or in any place outside the motor vehicle, the person driving the motor vehicle shall be punished with imprisonment for term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 2,000 rupees or with both punishments.

If an applicant has been indicted or convicted in serious offence, then the police will issue clearance certificate mentioning the offence in the report.

If an applicant has been convicted of corruption, rape, human trafficking, drug smuggling, money laundering, passport offence, abduction, and crime of moral turpitude, then the applicant will get police report but his/her conviction will be mentioned in the clearance certificate.

If an applicant has been convicted of serious offence or if he/she is a repeat offender, then the same will be mentioned in the clearance certificate. Similarly, if an applicant has been convicted of offence carrying more than one year jail term, then the same will be mentioned in the clearance certificate.

Nepal Police Spokesperson DIG Kuber Kadayat said the new directives contained some liberal provisions for those convicted in minor offences or indicted falsely but because of their conviction or indictment, they were not getting their police report. 'A school boy may not be involved in a gang fight and may have been wrongly indicted, if the boy does not get a police report, he may not be able to study in foreign country and this was one considerations behind this lenient policy,' Kadayat said and added that the directives were finalised after multiple rounds of discussions with stakeholders.

Foreign job aspirants, students wanting to pursue studies abroad, those who have applied for formal jobs and those who want to register non-governmental organisations need to have police clearance certificate.

The new directives state that an applicant will get the police clearance certificate within five working days. Previously, it took much longer.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.