The case Filed by 16 Commercial Banks Including Nepal Life and Shikhar Insurance in the Supreme Court is Being Debated Today

Kathmandu : The case filed by 16 commercial banks and 2 insurance companies in the Supreme Court regarding the tax dispute of FPO is being heard today on Wednesday.

Nepal Life Insurance and Shikhar Insurance, which have issued FPOs at a premium, have also filed a case in the court. Nepal Life filed a case in the Supreme Court on October 2nd and Shikhar on October 21st.The Supreme Court is hearing the case filed by the bank and the case filed by these 2 insurance companies in the list of commercial banks today.

Even though it was on the court’s list before, it was kept as a no-show. Today, the constitutional bench of Chief Justice Vishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and Justices Ishowar Prasad Khatiwada, Anand Mohan Bhattarai, Prakashman Singh Raut and Sapna Pradhan Malla is going to hear this case.

The bench issued a show-cause order in this case and called both parties to discuss whether to issue an interim order or not. After discussing with both parties, the court will decide whether to grant an interim order or not.  Government-invested Agricultural Development Bank, Nepal Bank, Commercial Bank have not gone to court. Similarly, Everest Bank has not gone to court. Apart from these, 16 other banks have registered cases in the court. 2 writs have been registered in the court.

7 commercial banks have filed a writ demanding cancellation of the provision of tax on the income of issue of FPO at joint premium. These banks are the banks that have issued FPOs at a premium. Even though Nepal Bank has taken out FPO, it has not gone to court. Similarly, 15 commercial banks that have gone through the process of merger and acquisition have jointly filed a writ demanding cancellation of the tax regime imposed on the ‘bargain purchase gain’ of the merger.