The Ministry of Home Affairs has adopted liberal provisions when it comes to issuing the police clearance certificate to those who had committed minor crimes in the past. However, the police will mention the crimes a person had been convicted of in serious crime(s) while issuing the police clearance certificate. The Home Ministry 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, including traffic rules violations. Before the new directive was published in the Nepal Gazette on Monday, the police used to mention even minor offences while issuing the clearance certificate, a provision which led a person to unnecessary complications while opting for foreign visit, study or employment. An applicant whose case has remained sub-judice in court or quasi-judicial body, a person who has been acquitted of any offence, a person convicted of child delinquency, a person who was penalised or fined for action during his or her service but his/her job remained unaffected, and a person who was convicted of a traffic accident resulting in the death(s) of person(s) will get the police report without his or her offence being mentioned in the character certificate.

However, if an applicant has been indicted or convicted of serious offences such as corruption, rape, human trafficking, drug smuggling, money laundering, passport forgery, abduction, or crime of moral turpitude, then the concerned applicant will get a police report with the conviction mentioned in the police clearance certificate. If a person is a repeat offender or if a person has been convicted of an offence carrying a jail term of more than a year, s/he will also get the police report with the offence being mentioned in it. As per international rules, all the embassies demand a police report asking the applicant whether or not she had been convicted of any offence other than traffic rules violations.

The new provisions will give some sort of relief to those who want to go to foreign countries for visit, employment or studies. Earlier, many Nepali youths who had got a police report mentioning even minor offences had been denied visas for work or study in foreign countries. The new directive will help lessen the chances of being visa denied on the grounds of minor offences mentioned in the police clearance certificate.

The directive has also stated that an applicant will get the police clearance certificate within five working days. Earlier, it used to take much longer to get the report. But Nepalis, particularly the youths, must not take it for granted that they will get a clean police report that easily as has been mentioned in the Home Ministry directive. Everybody must abide by the law of the land if they wish to obtain a clean police clearance certificate while embarking on foreign visits for whatsoever reason. There are many countries which deny visas to those who have been found committing even minor offences when they were in Nepal. What we can rest assured is that the directive is compatible with international practices, which are acceptable to all countries.

Protest against KMC

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Mayor Balendra Shah has become a household name in Nepal for the work he has done in the last one year in the capital. He has garnered enough admirers who even recommend he should be the next prime minister of Nepal. Even TIME magazine has taken notice of his contributions and included him in the list of 100 emerging leaders of this year. While it is true that he has hordes of admirers, there are quite a few detractors, including ward chairmen, trying to put an obstacle on the work he is trying to do in the city.

Some activists have started a new form of protest since Tuesday by standing for 77 hours outside the City Hall at Bhrikutimadap against the forceful eviction of street vendors. Their eviction from the footpaths has definitely impacted their livelihood as they are too poor to rent a shop to carry out their business. However, there is no gain without pain, and walking around the city is now a pleasure unlike in the past. The KMC would thus do well to set aside certain areas, like flea markets, for the street vendors to do business. The vendors on their part should carry their business there and not be concentrating in the core areas as a right.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 21, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.