Kathmandu, June 14, 2006

The government is revising all Acts and Regulations related to the Nepalese Army to make them relevant to the declaration of the House of Representatives, 2006.

For this purpose, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has begun the drafting process of new laws as well as amending the “provisions with autocratic and outdated language” in the existing Acts and Regulations of the Army.

“We are studying the provisions in the four Acts and 25 Regulations related to the Army to revise them as per the changed context,” said Bhupendra Poudel, the spokesperson at MoD.

The Military Act, 1959, which was amended for the fourth time in 2000, may be amended one more time, while 25 different Regulations will be extensively revised.

The Military Act, 1959, was first amended in 1963, expanding its jurisdiction; it was amended for the second time in 1966 for technical purposes and the third amendment of the Act in 1983 had changed the name of Army from Royal Army to Royal Nepalese Army.

The declaration of the House now has renamed the Royal Nepalese Army as Nepalese Army; scrapped the provision of King as a Supreme Commader In Chief of the Army and also brought the Army under parliament.

“This has created a necessity to amend some provisions, language and certain terminologies in the Acts and Regulations of the Army,” say MoD officials.

New policy to revamp Valley police system unveiled

Officiating Inspector General of Police, Om Bikram Rana, today unveiled a 11-point policy that he said he would try to implement during his tenure as the chief of the Nepal Police.

“Nepal Police will be soon be implementing the concept of metropolitan police system in the Valley to make the police service in the Valley prompt and effective,” Rana said at a press meet organised at the Police Headquarters.

The new police system will change the structure of the Valley Police under the office of police commissioner, according to Rana.

He further said that the proposed Police Commissioner’s office would bring semi-judicial power of District Administration Office to the police office.

“Inception of the new system will help manage a sound security arrangement in the Valley,” he added.

Rana said that the Nepal Police is thinking of giving more rights to the Crime Investigation Department of Police headquarters, Regional Police Offices, Zonal Police Offices to prosecute those guilty of complicated and serious crimes at courts, which till now is done only by the District Police Offices.

He expressed his desire to develop the crime investigation branch of the Police as the Crime Investigation Bureau of Nepal.