The Patan High Court has issued a short-term interim order to stop registration of the traded shares of telecommunication company Ncell.
The bench of Judge Purushottam Prasad Dhakal on Thursday has ordered the Office of the Company Registrar to not register the traded Ncell shares until December 11 pointing that the Public Accounts Committee of the House has urged the government to procure the shares, the prime minister has instructed for study of the episode and the Nepal Telecommunications Authority had written to the company to seek permission before trading the shares.
The bench has also summoned both the sides on December 11 and the court would decide whether to continue the short-term interim order or not after hearing their arguments.
The Malaysian company Axiata said on December 1 that it had sold its 80 percent shares in Ncell to Spectrlite UK Limited for US$ 50 million (Rs 6.66 billion).
The government has already formed a high-level committee to investigate the case.
The Ncell Case Study and Investigation Committee was formed under the coordination of former auditor general Tanka Mani Sharma.
Government Spokesperson Rekha Sharma said that the Cabinet meeting held on Thursday formed an inquiry committee headed by former auditor general Sharma.
Secretary Phanindra Gautam, Joint Secretary Ritesh Kumar Shakya, Joint Secretary Baburam Bhandari and Sujan Kumar Kafle are members of the committee. The committee has been given one month to submit its report.
Earlier, a meeting of top leaders of the ruling coalition held in Baluwatar had suggested that the government form a committee to conduct an in-depth investigation into the Ncell case.
