Sunday, November 10, 2019

Industrialist Dr Roop Jyoti remanded for five days

The Kathmandu District Court has today further remanded industrialist Dr Roop Jyoti to five-day police custody.
Earlier on Friday, court had allowed police to investigate him by keeping him in custody for three days which ended today. Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu had detained Jyoti on Friday, shortly after he returned from Singapore by Silk Air on charge of his alleged involvement in a housing procurement scam.
Dr Jyoti himself pleaded on his behalf during today’s hearing on whether or not to extend his remand. He claimed that he is not going to run away neither has any intention of it as he has returned the country. Denying his involvement in any wrongdoing, Dr Jyoti asked the court to let him fight the case remaining out of the police custody. Dr Jyoti, who is also a former state minister for finance and vice chairman of Jyoti Group, is primarily charged of duping people in housing business last December. The police had also issued an arrest warrant against him on complaints that he was involved in housing fraud worth millions of rupees. But Dr Jyoti had immediately filed a writ against the arrest warrant and obtained a stay order from the court. However, a double bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Sumsher Rana and Justice Prakash Dhungana had vacated the stay order on Jyoti’s case on Tuesday paving the way for police to arrest him.
But the private sector has condemned the arrest of Dr Jyoti. Arresting industrialists in such a manner will discourage the business community and negatively impact the business environment of the country,” they said, adding that such intimidation using the state mechanism is alarm bell for the private sector that is hoping to build the confidence after the formation of the two-third majority stable government.
Likewise, a group of business people also staged silent protest against Dr Jyoti’s arrest in Maitighar today. The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Nepal Chmabers of Commerce (NCC) and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), alongwith many other business organisations issued press note expressing deep concern over Dr Jyoti’s arrest.
“Arresting an industrialist, who has a reputed history of doing business in the country and helping the entire economy by giving employment opportunities to thousands without enough investigations will certainly discourage the private sector,” the FNCCI press note reads, adding that such trend of arresting industrialists will discourage both domestic and foreign investment in the country. “The government agencies must treat the country’s private sector with dignity and respect.”

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