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The National Assembly meeting has been postponed till Wednesday following obstruction from the main opposition CPN-UML.

As soon as the meeting began, UML lawmaker Dil Kumari Rawal demanded formation of a high-level probe committee to investigate the recent gold smuggling case.

She said that the government is not serious towards investigating the gold smuggling case.

“The CPN-UML has been obstructing the Parliament demanding formation of a high-level probe committee. But the government is not serious towards it,” Rawal said.

She alleged that the government is involved in the smuggling.

Rawal claimed that the smuggling of a huge cache of gold would not have been possible had there not been the involvement of the government.

She said that they would not allow the House proceed with its business until the government answers the questions raised by the opposition.

After lawmaker Rawal put forth her opinion, UML lawmakers stood from their respective seats as a gesture of protest.

Later, Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina informed that the meeting has been postponed till 1 pm on Wednesday.

The Department of Revenue Investigation on June 18 seized around one quintal gold that had passed the airport customs undetected.

So far, 18 persons have been arrested in connection with the case.

The CPN (Maoist Center) has decided to hold a meeting with the ruling and the opposition parties to end the deadlock of the House of Representatives and National Assembly.

A Parliamentary Party meeting of the Maoist Center held in Singha Durbar on Monday morning decided to hold a concrete decision to resume the House session, Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey said.

“We believe that a solid conclusion will be drawn by discussing with the leaders of the main opposition and other parties to elect chairpersons of the subject committees and to resume the Parliament,” he said.

Pandey said that the deck to resume the House will be cleared after a meeting of the senior leaders of major political parties with the Speaker.

Earlier, the main opposition CPN-UML had demanded a ruling to form a high-level probe committee alleging that the government ministers and high-ranking leaders of the Maoist Center were involved in the gold smuggling case.

But when the Speaker tried to proceed with the business in the zero hour, the UML lawmakers chanted slogans and gheraoed the well.

Speaker Ghimire has been postponing the Parliament meeting by pasting the notice at the request of the government after the ruling parties disagreed with the stand of the main opposition CPN-UML.

“The House is being obstructed. The main issue is how to resume the Parliament proceedings,” Pandey said, adding, “Prime Minister and Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the leaders to implement the decisions made by the Central Committee meeting.”

Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) Devraj Ghimire has called a meeting of the top leaders of three major political parties today in a bid to end the deadlock in the Parliament.

In a meeting to take place at the Office of the Speaker at Singhadurbar, Speaker Ghimire would once again request the ruling and opposition parties' leaders to end deadlock in the Parliament, his secretariat said.

Speaker Ghimire has invited Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal along with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, main opposition party CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and their chief whips or whips to the meeting today.

The UML has been obstructing the House proceedings demanding formation of a high-level probe committee to investigate the 100 kg gold smuggling case.

The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an order, paving the way for bringing top decision-makers of the time, including former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai, under the purview of police investigation in connection with the Lalita Niwas land-grab—the transfer of ownership of government land located at Baluwatar to individuals. 

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had confirmed earlier that the transfer of the land to individuals began during the prime ministership of Nepal and Bhattarai.  

But the CIAA had exonerated Nepal and Bhattarai in the case, pointing that investigation into the two prime ministers’ cabinet decisions were collective policy decisions that were beyond its jurisdiction. In the wake of reports leveling charges against them in connection with the case, Bhattarai and Nepal had said that they were innocent. 

Sunday’s order came from a division bench of justices Anil Kumar Sinha and Kumar Chudal in response to a habeas corpus petition from Yog Raj Paudel, one of the accused in the scam that has already brought 17 people under its net as a police probe continues. 

The top court instructed that high officials involved in making Cabinet decisions and senior ministry level officials involved in the decision-making process related to the transfer of the government land also be brought under investigation, citing decisions made on 11 April 2010, 14 May 2010, 13 August 2010 and 4 October 2012 without further delay.   

Those implicated in the case so far include Communications Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, Bhatbhateni Supermarket Chairman Min Bahadur Gurung, former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah, Dharma Prasad Gautam, Gopal Karki, Shivaji Bhattarai, Ghaman Kumari Karki, Baburaja Maharjan, Ramesh Kumar Pokharel, Dev Narayan Maharjan, Lokhari Ghimire, Dhruba Prasad Aryal, Krishna Bahadur Raut, Yograj Paudel, Narayandas Mishra, Rudra Prasad Shrestha, Bal Krishna Shrestha and Binod Paudel.