KATHMANDU, AUGUST 23
The Patan High Court dismissed the writ filed by Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Shah against the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Earlier, CAAN had sought clarification from Mayor Shah for demolishing the barbed wire surrounding 14 anna land near Sinamangal and announced it would take action accordingly.
In response, Mayor Shah filed a writ at the Patan High Court against the regulator's request for clarification.
The court refused to grant interim order as demanded. It only issued a short-term order. The court had called both parties for further discussion on the order, but today decided to dismiss Shah's writ.
Following the dismissal, CAAN has again sought clarification from Shah on demolition of the wire fence and warned it would slap a fine of Rs 50,000 as per the existing guideline.
According to a notice published by CAAN, Mayor Shah has to submit a written explanation to the authority within seven days.
If an explanation is not provided by the given time, a fine of Rs 50,000 may be imposed as per Section 25 (1) of the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 1996.
According to Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at CAAN, the metropolis had requested CAAN to provide land last fiscal to build a site dedicated to senior citizens, which the authority had refused stating that it would be used to construct infrastructure under the authority's master plan for the airport's expansion.
"As many squatters had started to construct illegal structures on the land, the authority had closed entry to the area with a wire fence. The metropolis had intervened and demolished the barbed wire fence stating that the land belonged to the government on June 15," he said.
Bhul also clarified that CAAN's building had been under construction since 2012 and as it was a government building, approval of construction design was not needed.
According to him, the rule requiring permit from the metropolis for construction of government building was only enforced from the fiscal 2017. "Although decisions were made to require a permit for such constructions in 2017, it was decided not to impose tax on such buildings. As the construction of the building had started way before the rule was imposed, the authority had sought permission from the metropolis after the rule was implemented. But, the metropolis had demanded that the authority pay tax," Bhul informed THT.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 24, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
