Opposition demands resignation of Nepal Finance Minister after reports of tax rate manipulation

Kathmandu [Nepal], June 14 : CPN-UML has obstructed a parliamentary meeting demanding the resignation of Nepal Finance Minister Janardan Sharma over allegations of tax rate manipulation a night before the presentation of the budget in parliament.
Surendra Pandey, Vice-Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) raised the issue of tax rate manipulation involving the Finance Minister ahead of the budget announcement.
"One of the newspapers reported that the Finance Minister on eve of budget announcement called some unfamiliar faces to the ministry and ordered the Secretary along with other officials associated with the budget-making in the ministry to introduce the unfamiliar faces as 'experts of taxes' and directed officials to follow the instructions given by the strangers. What is this?" Pandey raised the question at the beginning of the parliamentary meeting.
Further deliberating, Pandey, a former finance minister, demanded the resignation of the incumbent finance minister Janardan Sharma.
"After being accused of such heinous activity, I want to ask, 'Is the finance minister still capable of sitting in that post? Is he worthy to take over the post on moral grounds? The parliament wants an answer to this question. I also want to draw the attention of the Prime Minister as well, 'shouldn't the Prime Minister be accountable after the emergence of the issue? Is this issue only concerned with the Finance Minister? The parliament should be apprised of the issue."
Pressure has been mounting over Finance Minister Janardan Sharma since Monday after a report in a local newspaper (Annapurna Daily) that two outsiders were brought to change some taxes just before the presentation of the budget in parliament on May 29.
The vernacular daily reported Sharma had instructed four senior Finance Ministry officials to follow the suggestions of two individuals, one named Raghunath Ghimire, a retired senior non-gazetted officer and an unnamed chartered accountant--on the night of May 28.
The report stated that Minister Sharma ordered to make some last moment changes in taxation which is claimed to be made with a view to benefiting some business groups and harming others.
Ghimire who joined the government service as a secretary of a village development committee in Nuwakot in May 1996 was transferred to a tax office in Kathmandu just after eight months of serving as secretary.
After serving in several revenue-related offices, he resigned on February 13, 2019, as a senior non-gazetted officer at the Department of Customs.
Amid controversy, the Finance Ministry in a press statement on Monday evening had denied the involvement of unauthorized persons in the budget-making process.
"On May 28, preparations for an appropriations bill, finance bill, bill on raising national debt, and bill on debt and securities, were made with the participation of the finance secretary, revenue secretary, departmental chiefs and director-general of the Department of Customs, and the Inland Revenue Department, under the leadership of the finance minister. There was no involvement of any other person except the authorized persons in this process," the statement reads.
Responding to the allegations that surfaced on Monday, the Finance Minister at Tuesday's parliamentary meeting denied the involvement of unofficial personnel during budget preparation.
"An issue has been raised claiming anomalies while drafting the budget and tweaking of revenue rates- an outsider was called in at midnight. These are deceptive and fictional stories, I reject such claims," Finance Minister Sharma said while answering the queries of lawmakers during deliberation on an appropriation bill in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Tuesday.
Responding to the claims of the Finance Minister, the opposition further has sought the House Speaker's order to retrieve and publicize CCTV footage of the Finance Ministry of May 29 midnight, a day before the budget was made public, and a parliamentary inquiry into the Finance Minister.
The UML demand for CCTV footage and probe comes after Minister Sharma clarified in the House of Representatives (HoR) meeting on Tuesday that there had been no unauthorized access into the ministry that day.
UML Chief Whip Bishal Bhattarai demanded to make public the CCTV footage of the day concerned and form a parliamentary inquiry committee to look into the matter. He warned that the House would not be able to function until the demand was met.
"With confidence, I can say this, Honorable House Speaker issue a directive to retrieve the CCTV footage of May 28 specifically that of the Finance Ministry's budget planning division and show it in public to show whosoever had entered there. Finance minister has said there was no entry of an outsider," Bishal Bhattarai, Chief Whip of the opposition said.
Soon after as Speaker Agni Sapkota tried to move the HoR meeting forward, UML lawmakers stood up and protested.
The UML lawmakers continued to protest despite Speaker Sapkota's request to allow the meeting to continue. As a result, the Speaker adjourned the House till 11 am Wednesday by clearing the remaining agenda.