KATHMANDU, March 28: The Patan High Court has dismissed the writ petition against the sale of shares of Ncell. With the cancellation of the writ, now Office of the Company Registrar, Nepal Telecommunication Authority and others will be able to proceed with the work as per the requirement regarding Ncell.
On Wednesday, a joint bench of Patan High Court Judges Dhruba Raj Nanda and Narayan Prasad Regmi dismissed the petition. Earlier, the court had issued a short-term interim order on December 7 to the Office of the Company Registrar not to register the sale and purchase of Ncell shares.
PM says govt determined to recover CGT in sale of Ncell shares
Gokul Bahadur Rokaya filed a writ petition on December 6. In the petition, an order was sought from the court seeking to bring Ncell, Axiata Group and Spectrlite UK Limited under the ambit of tax, make them pay capital gains tax and take necessary steps to prevent misappropriation of foreign currency. The full text of the judgment has not yet arrived.
Last December, businessman Satish Lal Acharya acquired an 80 percent stake in Ncell, a subsidiary of the Axiata Group. This acquisition was facilitated through Acharya's directorship at Spectralite UK, a company based in the UK. Under the terms of a share purchase agreement (SPA), Acharya's company secured the majority stake previously held by Axiata Group in Ncell.
Along with the purchase and sale of shares of Ncell, the government established an independent investigation committee distinct from the parliamentary body. Led by former Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma, this inquiry committee was tasked with probing related matters. Recently, the committee completed its investigation and submitted a comprehensive report to the government.