Appellate Court stays Sajha Prakashan’s gen assembly

Kathmandu, October 4

The 23rd general assembly of Sajha Prakashan scheduled for October 3 was cancelled after the Patan Appellate Court issued a stay order.

Stating that the appointments in Sajha Prakashan Management Committee were made illegally, National Cooperative Development Board had last week filed a writ petition at the Appellate Court seeking stay order against the publication house’s decision to hold its general assembly.

Saroj Kumar Sharma, co-chairman, NCDB, today said since appointments in Sajha Prakashan were made illegally, all its activities would also be illegal.

Sajha Prakashan, which was promoted and monitored by the NCDB previously, was brought under the Ministry of Education after a cabinet decision on May 18, 2012. UCPN-Maoist leader Dinanath Sharma was education minister then.

“The management committee of Sajha Prakashan, which has been constituted illegally, was going to change the by-laws of the organisation through its general assembly.

Thus, it was necessary to stop it from doing so,” said Sharma. He informed that the MoE should have sought consent from the NCDB before bringing Sajha Prakashan under its purview.

Earlier, the NDCB had helped the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority investigate into irregularities and abuse of authority by then general manager Mamta Jha.

“We had also suspended Jha on the recommendation of the CIAA,” Sharma said adding, “Legally, the NCDB is the body responsible for monitoring Sajha Prakashan. Thus, Sajha Prakashan cannot hold its general assembly without our consent,” he added.

The 103-year old Sajha Prakashan, which is currently under the education ministry, had been on the verge of closure until ‘Save Sajha’ campaign was launched to give the

publication house a new lease of life.

Dolindra Prasad Sharma, general manager and chairperson of Sajha Prakashan Management Committee, said the filing of the writ petition at the Patan Appellate Court was a conspiracy against the publication house. The Patan Appellate Court has scheduled the first hearing in the case for October 7.