SC stays NAC’s Boeing repair deal

The Supreme Court issued a stay order to Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to stop the process of repairing and overhauling its Boeing 757 by a Chinese company, Ameco, Beijing.A division bench of justices Anup Raj Sharma and Sharada Prasad Pundit issued the order, saying that the decision taken by NAC Managing Director and approved later by the NAC board of directors cannot be justified.Invoking the prerogative of the MD under Clause 66 of the Public Procurement Act 2063, MD Gautam Das Shrestha had decided to award the repair and overhaul work to the Chinese company.“Since the decision could not justify the invocation of the prerogative powers of the Managing Director, the process should be put on hold,” the bench said. Given the seriousness of the case, the bench, however, has put the case on priority list for final hearing.Seeking apex court’s intervention to scrap the Rs 40 crore deal between NAC and the Ameco, advocate Nanda Prasad Adhikary had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the SC.The petitioner also sought an SC order to the CIAA to investigate into the controversial decision. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, MD Shrestha, the NAC, the CIAA and the Chinese company are the defendants in the petition.The advocate said the NAC decision violated the Financial Administration Regulation and other financial laws related to procurement. He claimed that the NAC violated the norms and prevented many competent companies from bidding for the repair and overhaul of the Boeing.