सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. Preparations to issue licenses for the new stock exchange have resumed, bypassing the parliament and the court. Nepal Securities Board Chairman Santosh Narayan Shrestha has started preparations to issue licenses for the new stock exchange, bypassing the parliament and ignoring the case pending in the Supreme Court.
After intense pressure from the opposition, the government had decided to convene the parliament for Magh 18. As per the government’s decision, President Ram Chandra Poudel has called a meeting of the House of Representatives for 1 pm on Friday, Magh 18.
The main opposition parties, the CPN-Maoist Center, the National Independent Party, the National Democratic Party, and others, are preparing to make the license distribution process for the new stock exchange the main agenda in the parliament meeting. After the opposition parties got the opportunity to raise their voices on the licensing process of the new stock exchange in a unified manner, preparations are underway to complete the evaluation work and recommend the license before the parliament session.
Securities Board Chairman Shrestha is preparing to call a meeting of the board of directors this week. ‘There is news that preparations are being made to call a board meeting this week, it is understood that the chairman has also had informal talks with some directors, there is talk that the board meeting will discuss how to reopen the file of applicants for the new stock exchange license and assign numbers,’ a high-ranking board source told Singha Dabar.
Preparation to bypass the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court
A case has been filed in the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court alleging that the process of issuing licenses for the new stock exchange is not in accordance with the law. Law student Krishna Bahadur Thapa filed the case on Poush 23, alleging that there was a legal error in distributing the new stock license. The next hearing of the case, registered with registration number 081-wc-0035, has been scheduled for Falgun 21.
The first hearing was scheduled for Magh 9, but the hearing could not be held due to lack of time. Now, the writ petition is being heard on Falgun 21 in a bench headed by Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut. The senior-most judges in the constitutional bench headed by the Chief Justice are Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma and Dr. Kumar Chudal.
It seems that the licensing process is being moved forward while the case is still under consideration in the constitutional bench headed by the Chief Justice.
What is the subject of the case ?
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## The writ petition states that the Nepal Securities Board is trying to establish a corporate body for the operation of the securities market by misinterpreting Section 118 of the Securities Act, 2063. The hearing of this case has been fixed for Falgun 21.
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The writ claims that the Board has issued the ‘Directive on Providing Recommendations by the Board for Establishing a Corporate Body for the Operation of the Securities Market, 2079’, using its power not provided by law. Since the directive is in conflict with Section 118 of the Securities Act, 2063, it has been demanded to cancel the Directive on Providing Recommendations by the Board for Establishing a Corporate Body for the Operation of the Securities Market, 2079.
The Board of Directors is being burdened with a commission of five billion rupees
The fact that a commission of five billion rupees is at stake in the license issue of the new stock exchange is a topic that has been raised repeatedly. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli himself has repeatedly given clarifications about the five billion rupees commission. UML Chairman KP Oli, the charioteer of the then Prachanda government, had opened his mouth about the five billion rupees commission as early as 1 Asar 2081. In an angry statement at the party parliamentary party meeting, Oli had said, “I saw it in a media outlet this morning. KP Oli has already eaten and swallowed five billion rupees.” “They have put it in their mouths, they have put it in their mouths, they are coming to say that KP Oli will eat whatever he wants, whether it is 4 billion or 5 billion.”
Not only that, even after he became the Prime Minister, Oli had to give a long public explanation about the appointment of the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal. On Asoj 15, Oli had organized a press conference to provide information about the damage caused by the floods and landslides and the steps taken by the government. At the same conference, the question of the five billion commission was raised. Then Prime Minister Oli angrily explained the appointment of the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal and the five billion commission for about five minutes.
On this issue, on Poush 1, 2081, activist Rajan Sharma Parajuli, on behalf of the Youth Campaign against Corruption, has filed a complaint with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The complaint number is c-035384/2081/09 in the CIAA. The complainant Sharma has claimed that he has presented some facts and the basis for how a five billion rupee commission game is being played in the new stock exchange license case.
It seems that there is a conspiracy to put the entire burden of the new stock exchange license case, which has been established as the biggest policy corruption in recent times, on the heads of the Board of Directors and the Evaluation Committee of the Securities Board of Nepal.
The then Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal had formed an evaluation committee consisting of a representative of the Ministry of Finance (Director), a representative of the Ministry of Law (Director), and a representative of Nepal Rastra Bank (Director) to evaluate the files of the three companies that had applied for the new stock exchange license.
The committee had Executive Director Muktinath Shrestha, who is also the head of the board’s regulatory department, and Deputy Executive Director Ambika Giri, who is the head of the regulatory division, as member secretary. Although the committee had opened the applications and collected the bonds, it had not been able to issue the numbers. The then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had decided on 26 Baisakh 2080 from the Council of Ministers to stop the licensing process and ask for further study. Prachanda had also claimed that he had destroyed the billion-trillion
It is understood that the same company will get the permission since Himalayan Stock has arranged all the arrangements. Now, preparations are underway to move forward the licensing process again and place the burden of the five billion commission on the shoulders of the seven members of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON) Board of Directors, the Chief of the Regulatory Department and the Chief of the Regulatory Division.
Currently, Santosh Narayan Shrestha is the Chairman of the Board, while Joint Secretary Mahesh Baral is the representative of the Ministry of Finance, Joint Secretary Binod Kumar Bhattarai from the Ministry of Law, and Executive Director Tulsi Prasad Ghimire from Nepal Rastra Bank are the board directors. Similarly, Nil Bahadur Saru Magar from ICAN, Gokarna Raj Awasthi from the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and expert member Bholanath Dhungana are the board directors.
Now, as the process of granting the license of the new stock exchange progresses, the responsibility of evaluation will fall on the shoulders of Mahesh Baral, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Binod Kumar Bhattarai, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Law, and Tulsi Prasad Ghimire, Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank.
They will be assisted by Executive Director Muktinath Shrestha and Deputy Executive Director Ambika Giri on behalf of the board administration. That is, the first burden of the five billion commission will fall on the heads of these three directors and two employees of the board. According to the evaluation committee report, the board’s board of directors will have to decide to grant the license and proceed with the registration process. That is, it seems that the government has entrusted the burden of all the ‘jos upjos’ related to the license of the new stock exchange to the securities board itself.
Finance letter creates more problems
The Finance Ministry’s letter regarding the licensing process for the new stock exchange has created a bigger crisis for the board. The Finance Ministry sent a letter to the board on Friday, asking it to ‘implement the report received as per the decision of the Council of Ministers meeting in accordance with the law’.
The Finance Ministry’s order to do as per the law seems to have created a kind of atmosphere of fear among the employees of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal. “The Ministry of Finance has said to do it according to the law. The chairperson and directors come to the board from various paths, do their work, and leave. We are not employees who get caught. We are stressed,” say the board employees.
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