In Nepal, no government can scrap the licenses of publications.
That's actually written in the 1990 ko Constitution

That's because we learnt in the Panchayat days how arbitrary government's powers are when it wants to punish those who it does not like.

BUT, but and but sadly that RIGHT is not extended to Nepali businesses. The government can just scrap licenses of private limited companies which it
does not like and against which it can hurl flimsiest of charges which it need only
assert and not even prove publicly.

Yes, in this case, (see below) Lumbini Overseas might indeed have been guilty.

But that verdict of guilt should have come after having followed a due process in a Nepali court of law.

At the very least, such a verdict should NOT have come from the mantralya headed by a mantri (Raghuji Panth) who's got his own axe to grind against this particular Nepali firm. A verdict from a court of law would also have provided a general template on how to deal with such cases in future.

But let's face it, NO minister in Nepal has the right to define what constitutes "legal" and what constitutes "illegal". If mantralaya ands mantris were in the business of defining those terms, then why the hell do we need the courts?

This sort of arbitrary action taken by Panth's ministry WITH NO RECOURSE TO APPEAL sets a very bad precedent for anyone who wants to do any business in Nepal. I mean, this sort of thing just raises the unpredictability factor anyone who wants to do any business in Nepal. Who knows, the mantri might get angry with you, and, if so, his mantralaya would find all sorts of excuse to harrass you and soon you'll be out of business altogether.

It's hard to believe that out of 400-plus 'manpower agencies', only Lumbini gets punished for its putative crime.

oohi
ashu


*****
Govt scraps licence of Lumbini overseas

The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM) cancelled the licence of controversial Lumbini Overseas Pvt Ltd, one of the manpower agencies permitted to export Nepali workers to South Korea.

According to reports, the ministry took the decision on Tuesday following findings that it was involved in sending workers to South Korea illegally.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) along with the Revenue Investigation Department found that the overseas company had evaded taxes worth Rs 12 million.

Among the 5,583 Nepali workers sent abroad for foreign employment, the agency has no record of 1,720 workers. THE END

I think what government is doing is good. They should punish someone and Lumbini overseas was guilty and so they were punished. This is democracy and everyone has the right to exercise their right people as well as the government. In this case I think the government has done the right thing. Deal with it.

I think what Ashu is saying is that the government should abide by the judiciary procedure to scrap the license not the ministry.
The case begins when Raghu Ji Pant offered the "gola pratha" to select the workers to go to S. Korea. Which Lumbini overseas denied instantly.
The case was filed against the Lumbini overseas by the Ministry, but I think court ruled against Lumbini (Ashu correct me if I am wrong here). So more than hundred workers left for S.Korea...Raghu Ji wanted to change the system but system didn't listen..so in order to save some of the already lost face he used his "power" to scrap the license...
Is this scraping of license legal? May be not from judiciary standpoint! Is it right in the eyes of the citizen who wanted to see equality in selecting the workers? Hell Ya!

My two cents
Revival

One line from a letter to editor in Kantipur (Friday)

"यतिखेर र्सवसाधारण नागरिकमा चासो बढेको छ, लुम्बिनी ओभरसिजको दर्ता खारेजी हुनुमा रघुजीले मुद्दा हार्नुको झो"क त होइन - यतिखेर र्सवसाधारण नागरिकमा चासो बढेको छ, लुम्बिनी ओभरसिजको दर्ता खारेजी हुनुमा रघुजीले मुद्दा हार्नुको झो"क त होइन - "

***

With 400-plus players, the 'manpower agency' market is very competitive in Nepal.

It's one thing to have a court of law slap a fine on Lumbin or punish it by other means
for doing illegal things so that a PRECEDENT based on the law is set. Such a precedent would help punish similar wrong-doers in future.

But it's completely another when a Minister, in an apparent fit of anger given his recent history with Lumbini, oversteps his authority and cancels the registration of a private sector firm, no matter how 'khattam' that firm's actions are seen.

On a conceptual note, details may vary, but how different is Mantri's this action from
the King's dismissing the shreds of an elected government?

You see, the trouble with allowing the use of power ARBITRARILY to those in authority in the name of "some greater public good" is NEVER good for both democracy and markets. Once you allow the use of such arbitrary power to be used, then, there's
no stopping its reach to do greater harm in the name of "greater good."

oohi
ashu