KATHMANDU, Sept 1: The Patan High Court issued an interim order to the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday to keep the work related to the purchase of ballot boxes as it is.

A single bench of Judge Mahendra Nath Upadhyaya called both the EC and the petitioner for a discussion and issued a short-term interim order not to proceed with the purchase of ballot boxes immediately.

"When it seems appropriate to reach a decision regarding the issuance of an interim order or not, please inform the parties a discussion on the order will be held on September 4, 2079," the order said. "Until that period, a short-term interim order has been issued to keep the work of the Election Commission regarding the bidding for the import and distribution of ballot boxes as they are now."

The Election Commission had called for tenders to buy ballot boxes. Manish Kumar Khem, on behalf of Chaudhary Group's 'GabioNet Environment Solutions Pvt Ltd’, filed a writ petition against the Election Commission at the Patan High Court, saying that the commission had accepted the bid of an unqualified company for the purchase of ballot boxes.

It was said that the company should also submit the proof of 'credit facility' worth Rs 181.5 million along with the bid. The writ petitioner claims that the bid of 'Sashidhar/ Kabil/ Bridgetech JV', which did not fulfill the criteria, was accepted by the EC.

The Commission had called for tenders for the procurement of election materials to be used in the polling stations for the House of Representatives and provincial assembly elections slated for November 20. The EC accepted the tender for the purchase of ballot boxes worth Rs 149.8 million submitted by a company called 'Sashidhar/ Kabil/ Bridgetech JV' on August 29.

 
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