Miscellaneous
SC orders submission of docs related to TSC members
The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday ordered the Special Court to present all the documents related to the corruption case against Tax Settlement Commission (TSC) members.The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday ordered the Special Court to present all the documents related to the corruption case against Tax Settlement Commission (TSC) members.
A full bench of Justices Deepak Raj Joshi, Deepak Kumar Karki, Kedar Prasad Chalise, Shardha Prasad Ghimire and Anil Kumar Sinha issued the order in response to a habeas corpus writ, demanding the release of TSC member Chudamani Sharma.
Sharma’s wife Kalpana Upreti Sharma had filed a habeas corpus petition at the SC on July 11, claiming the detention of her husband was illegal, in response to Rs3 billion bail amount sought by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for his release.
Subsequently, the anti-graft body had filed a corruption case at the Special Court on July 16 against TSC Chairperson Lumba Dhwoj Mahat and members—Umesh Prasad Dhakal and Sharma, who has also been suspended as director general of the Inland Revenue Department, on the charge of embezzling Rs10.02 billion. The CIAA has charged them of embezzlement while exempting taxes to the enterprises through the TSC in ‘dubious way’.
SC Spokesperson Mahendra Nath Upadhyay said the apex court bench would set another date for hearing once the Special Court submits all the documents related to
the case.
According to officials at the Special Court and the CIAA, it is a rare case where the corruption-related documents reached the Supreme Court without the accused being tried at the Special Court. However, the documents have been sought on a habeas corpus related case rather than the one related to corruption.
With the habeas corpus case pending at the apex court, the Special Court could not start proceeding even though the case was filed a week earlier.
Special Court Spokesperson Jagannath Poudel said that they would send the documents once they formally received the verdict of the higher court. The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) report in April called into question the Rs21 billion tax exemption granted by the TSC to various enterprises. The commission was formed by the Sushil Koirala government in 2015.