KATHMANDU, Nov 14: The selection process for the chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) that had been halted has now resumed. Three people shortlisted for the position have been called for an interview. The Ministry of Finance's recommendation committee confirmed their candidacies and scheduled the interviews.
The Ministry of Finance issued a public notice on Thursday and has called Krishna Bahadur Karki, Chiranjivi Chapagai, and Dr Nabaraj Adhikari, who are on the shortlist, for a business plan presentation and an interview on the morning of November 24 at 8 am.
Although they had passed the first stage of selection, all three were previously absent from the interview. The recommendation committee of the ministry has now called them again.
Three candidates shortlisted for Sebon’s Chairman
Previously, they were called for an interview on October 4, but it was postponed at the last minute. Santosh Narayan Shrestha and Muktinath Shrestha, who were selected in the first phase, have already given their interviews. When applications were called last February, out of 19 candidates, the two Shresthas, Karki, Chapagai, and Adhikari had made it to the first phase of selection.
On June 16, all five candidates were supposed to be present for the interview. From there, the committee was to shortlist three names and send them to the government, which would then appoint one from the list. However, only three names were eligible for shortlisting.
Three candidates were absent from the interview. As a result, the committee had canceled the selection process on June 28. In response, Santosh Narayan Shrestha filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, which issued an order directing that the process should not be canceled.
Since the tenure of Ramesh Hamal ended, the SEBON has been unable to select a chairman through the proper procedure since last year’s December. Earlier, when the Maoist-UML coalition government was in power, the selection process for the SEBON Chairman was obstructed due to internal competition among the ruling parties to appoint their own candidate.
Since the CPN-UML and Nepali Congress formed the government, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has assigned the responsibility of the SEBON's chairman to Joint Secretary Mahesh Baral since mid-July.
