Kathmandu, August 28

The Supreme Court (SC) has quashed a writ that was filed against Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Act (BIPPA) that Nepal had inked with India in 2011.

A five-member constitutional bench, including Chief Justice Cholendra Sumsher JBR, decided to scrap the writ application against the aforementioned agreement filed by Balkrishna Neupane.

The then government led by former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai had signed BIPPA with India on October 21, 2011. Then industry minister Anil Kumar Jha and then Indian finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the president of India today, had inked the BIPPA, thereby ensuring protection of foreign investments against discriminatory measures like policy inconsistencies by the host countries. BIPPA was also crucial for investment security in Nepal.

However, the Mohan Baidhya-led group had protested against BIPPA citing that the agreement was against the interest of the nation. Consequently, Neupane had filed a writ against BIPPA at the apex court.

SC is expected to release a full report of its verdict on Neupane’s writ against BIPPA soon.

Along with India, Nepal has signed BIPPA with Mauritius, Finland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The government is also preparing to ink BIPPA with other countries, including China, in the future.