PAC to discuss SC's verdict on blacklist case

The parliamentary Public Account Committee (PAC) has begun discussion on a controversial verdict issued by the Supreme Court in favour of the Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills in a bank loan default case.

The verdict had scrapped the decision taken by the Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), the Credit Information Centre (CIC) and Bankers’ Club (BC) to blacklist the Mills for “defaulting bank loan”.

The PAC decided to summon legal experts, including Attorney-General Yagya Murti Banjade, senior advocate, Radheshyam Adhikary, NBA president Shambhu Thapa, and former AGs Badri Bahadur Karki and Mahadev Yadav, to assist the parliamentary committee during the next meeting of the PAC on the matter, which is scheduled for Wednesday, reports said.

In January, a division bench of justices Arjun Prasad Singh and Badri Kumar Basnet had issued the verdict, scrapping the decision to blacklist the Mills owned by businessmen, including Binod Chaudhary.

“We will not only summon the judges concerned, but also initiate an impeachment motion against them if we found that they had resorted to irregularities while deciding the case,” Chair of the committee Chitra Bahadur KC said.

Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank Limited, Himalayan Bank, Employees Provident Fund and Nepal Industrial Development Corporation had asked the House of Representatives to impeach three judges in a letter on July 6.