SUPREME COURT INTERVEVES TO STOP WITHDRAWAL OF MURDER CASES AGAINST MAOISTS Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: A single bench of Justice Tahir Ali of the supreme court Wednesday issued a stay order against a cabinet decision to withdraw an attempt to murder case involving Maoists. The bench directed the government and Kathmandu District Court to stop work to withdraw a case filed against Maoist Trade Union leaders who attempted to murder former Maoist lawmaker and trade union leader Shalikram Jamakattel in August 2011. Jamakattelis considered close of Maoist Chairman Prachanda The Cabinet decided to withdraw the case involving Ram Prasad Pudasaini, Sudeep Karki, Indra Bahadur Shahi Thakuri and Kamal Budhathok. Nnnn NEW NORMS IN APPOINTING JUDGES Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: Setting new norms for judges’ appointment, the Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi-headed Judicial Council (JC) today decided to appoint judges only after testing their competency, The Himalayan Times reports. “We endorsed the new system of judges’ appointment from our level and we are waiting for approval from Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, who looks after the law portfolio,” Khem Narayan Dhungana , JC member told reporters. After the JC meeting, Dhungana said the Council has set ways — written test and interview — prior to the appointment of judges. According to the new system, judges in appellate and district courts will be appointed through public scrutiny, as the JC would appoint them only after the competence test. “Vacancies will be announced with 21 days notice to fill applications for eligible persons and those who are short-listed will face interviews for the post of appellate court judges,” another JC member said. The judges appointing body, however, said persons convicted in contempt of court charge, convicted in any criminal offence, tax defaulters, black listed, human rights violators and juvenile justice violators would not get a chance even to file their candidacy. After passing interview, the successful candidate must face public scrutiny. The JC will publish a seven-day notice for public feedback from people concerned on the candidates who have passed. “If anyone objects to any candidacy with concrete evidence, the person shall not be appointed,” the member added. However, the Judical Council may take the written test and interview for appointment of judges at the district level. Nnnn LEAKAGE STILL PREVAILS IN LIQUOR BUSINESS Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has said that it will once again start monitoring domestic liquor manufacturers and importers to control revenue leakage, The Himalayan Times reports. The department has received criticism from different quarters for its failure last year to control revenue leakage in liquor trade. “A staff from the Inland Revenue Office constantly checks the packaging process to ensure revenue compliance,” said a source at the Finance Ministry. “Yet, the business has not been free from the problem of revenue leakage.” This year, the move to control revenue leakage will be more efficient, and we will crack down on the illegal nexus between traders and importers, said director general at the department Tanka Mani Sharma, adding that evasion of excise duty by domestic liquor manufacturers and under-invoicing by importers are the major problems. IRD had recently revealed that some business people were using fake stickers to avoid tax compliance. However, it did not reveal the names of the concerned business people saying it could not do so since the department has to respect the privacy of traders. Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has claimed that liquor has become one of the major consignments vulnerable to revenue leakage. “Some costly and branded liquor have been imported at amazingly low valuation,” a source at DRI said. IRD should initiate monitoring in several sectors, said Sharma. “Keeping a closer watch on domestic manufacturers to control excise fraud and frequent market monitoring to control under-invoicing of imported liquor are a must to control revenue leakage.” Similarly, IRD should also monitor selling-points to check whether or not they have been violating existing legal provisions, he added. The department had initiated a drive to control revenue leakage last December, but it did not yield any tangible result. It had floated an idea of making it mandatory to fill a separate form before buying liquor to control revenue leakage but it never materialised. nnnn