Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: President Ram Chandra Poudel Wednesday approved the Nepal Citizenship Act (Amendment) Bill, which had been rejected by his predecessor, Bidya Devi Bhandari.
The cabinet meeting held on May 26 had decided to forward the Bill to President Poudel for authentication.
“President Poudel authenticated the Bill as per Articles 61 and 66 of the Constitution of Nepal. The cabinet had sent the bill to the Office of the President for authentication three to four days ago,” said Baburam Kunwar, legal adviser to the President.
President Poudel had previously held consultations with legal and constitutional experts to determine whether he could authenticate the Bill that had been rejected by the former President.
Former President Bhandari had refused to authenticate the Bill, which had been passed by both houses of parliament in September of the previous year. Her term ended on March 13.
One of the contentious provisions in the Bill relates to children of citizens who obtained Nepali citizenship through birth before September 20, 2015. If both parents are Nepali citizens, their children will be eligible to obtain Nepali citizenship by descent once they reach the age of 16. Currently, over 500,000 children whose parents acquired citizenship by birth have been unable to obtain Nepali citizenship due to the absence of legal provisions.
As per the Bill, any minor whose father or mother cannot be identified in Nepal will be considered a citizen of Nepal by descent until their parent is located.
The Article 113 of the Constitution of Nepal stipulates that when a Bill is returned by the President with a message, it should be reconsidered by both houses, but there is no obligation to amend it. This means President Bhandari was legally obligated to authenticate the Bill when it was sent to her for the second time. However, she chose to reject it.
Sources say that her main concerns were related to the criteria for citizenship based on naturalization and issues of gender equity in citizenship.
