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Kathmandu, Friday January 07, 2000 Paush 23rd, 2056.
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Customs
violates Supreme Court order
-By
a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU,
Jan 6 - Bhairahawa Customs has denied the entry of salt imported by
Himali Noon Pvt Ltd. from India against the interim order of the
Supreme Court.
The
customs has denied permitting the entry of six trucks of salt imported
by the private importer citing finance ministry’s directives not to
allow the entry of salt imported by any private party.
Supreme
Court on September13, 1999 issued an interim order asking the
government not to hinder the import of salt from India by Himali Noon
Pvt Ltd unless the court gave a final verdict on a petition filed by
the Himali Noon.
Himali
Noon, the private sector company dealing with the import, iodizing and
distribution of salt, had filed a petition on July 20, 1999 to nullify
cabinet’s decision that effectively barred it from importing salt
from India. The Cabinet on March 22, 1999 decided to allow only Salt
Trading Corporation (STC) to deal with import and distribution of salt
until the end of the Ninth Five-Year period ending 2002. STC is a
public company with only 11.6 percent of government stake holding.
The
plaintiff in its petition had argued that the cabinet decision
violated the Iodized Salt (supply and manufacture) Act 1998 and ran
counter to the government’s policy of liberalizing salt import. The
Act allows the entry of any capable private party into salt trade.
The
plaintiff had also argued that the cabinet decision violated Import
Export Act, which guarantees citizen’s right to export and import
goods, except those enlisted in the negative list of the Act’s
annex. Salt is not included in the negative list.
Himali
Noon obtained licence from the Department of Industry in 1993 under
the government’s much publicized policy of liberalizing salt trade.
The government did not only grant the licence but also requested the
Government of India on July 3, 1998 to provide railway rack facility
to Himali Noon for importing salt from India. Under the bilateral
agreement Indian government subsidizes 50 percent of transportation
cost for the import of salt from India through railway racks.
However,
the government later on made a U-turn from its earlier decision and
did not only request the government of India to scrap the railway rack
facility to the private party but also made a cabinet level decision
to bar the private sector from dealing in salt.
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