SC seeks Rs 5 million bail from former IRD chief Sharma

 The Special Court today asked for Rs 5 million bail from former director general of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Chudamani Sharma, who has been accused of revenue leakage worth over Rs 1 billion.

After a hearing, a division bench of judges Abdul Aziz Musalman and Justice Nityananda Pandey issued the verdict.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against three persons including Sharma at the Special Court on June 23 accusing them of corruption. The CIAA had sought to recover a total of Rs 1.33 billion from the accused.

Sharma, who has been accused of one of the largest corruption scandals in Nepal's history, was under investigation for possessing property amassed through alleged corruption. The two other accused including Tax Settlement Commission (TSC) chairman LD Mahat and the TSC member Umesh Prasad Dhakal, who also cleared an amount of Rs 5 million each to be released on bail on Sunday.

They have been accused of the abuse of authority by making the taxpayers submit less than the actual amount, causing a huge amount of revenue leakage to the state.

ISPs to hike 13 per cent in internet fees from July 17

The Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN) is increasing internet fees by 13 per cent with effective from July 17 as the government failed to implement the previous agreement reached with them. As a result, the internet subscribers will have to bear additional burden of at least Rs 100 on a minimum package, while other internet packages will be costlier.
ISPs had decided to raise internet fee by 13 per cent – in mid-July last year – following the government’s decision to impose 13 per cent telecommunication service charge (TSC) on internet services with effective from the beginning of the current fiscal year. However, they revoked the decision after the government’s assurance of subsidising 6.5 per cent of the TSC and waive TSC on internet wires and routers, leased line data connectivity and repair costs. The government had also assured the ISPs that it would share half of the TSC burden imposed on internet services.
But the government failed to walk the talk of implementation of sharing 50 per cent of TSC imposed on internet services which has forced the ISPs to hike the cost, according to chairman of ISPAN Bhoj Raj Bhatta.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has however urged them to discuss before putting additional financial burden on to customers. The government has brought the policy to increase the access of internet by bringing the price down.