Legal experts have raised alarm over the latest Supreme Court ruling, allowing the Ajeya Raj Sumargi-owned Mukti Shree Cement Industry to withdraw money frozen at the Nepal Rastra Bank despite his failure to disclose sources.

The single bench of seniormost Supreme Court Justice Deepak Raj Joshee on Tuesday ordered the central bank to allow Mukti Shree to withdraw the amount transferred into its bank account from foreign countries.

The NRB had earlier frozen Rs840 million ($7.5 million) remitted to the company’s bank account as foreign investment, citing that the sources of the amount have not been disclosed.

Expressing serious reservations over the SC decision, Advocate Bhimarjun Acharya said that an interlocutory stay order in ex-parte hearing on such a sensitive issue was not desirable.

“I disagree with the SC decision in principle. I think the court needs to be more sensitive in such a serious case,” Acharya told the Post.

Another advocate said the bench’s ruling was shocking. “It’s clear that the Supreme Court has allowed Mukti Shree to withdraw the amount, while inviting both the parties for a hearing on January 8 to reach a verdict in the case,” the advocate said, requesting anonymity.

Legal eagles also claimed that the decision might have come either at the behest of the government.

Also on Tuesday, the single bench of Justice Joshee had issued another interim order allowing the Chaudhary Group-owned CG Communi-cation Pvt Ltd to operate its mobile service. The company was not permitted by the Nepal Telecom Authority to operate the service for lacking the infrastructure.

Joshee, who was rejected by the Parliamentary Hearing Committee for the post of chief justice for a string of controversial decisions, continues with his duty as seniormost justice at the country’s top court.

Advocate Tikaram Bhattarai refused to comment on the case, saying that he has been providing advice to the attorney general over the apex court’s controversial decisions.

A single bench of Justice Joshee on Tuesday issued an interlocutory interim order, directing the central bank to release the money from the company’s account as and when it wants until the next hearing due on January 8, 2019. The company is owned by businessman Sumargi. 

The order was issued in response to a writ petition lodged by Lok Bahadur Adhikari on behalf of Mukti Shree at the court against the Nepal Rastra Bank.

“Let the company withdraw the money from its account as and when needed, and ensure smooth functioning of the account without any hindrance,” read the court order.

With the fulfillment of its intention, legal experts say, the apex court’s decision to hold further deliberation on the issue is irrelevant as the court order has released the amount.

Prior to this, the apex court had issued an interim order releasing the frozen amount of Rs2.20 billion that was in the name of Sumargi-owned Nepal Satellite Telecom. However, the court has not shown any readiness to conduct further hearings on the cases which were sidelined through interim orders.