KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court today declined to issue a stay order as demanded by the administrator of the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) to protect its amount in the process of liquidating the Nepal Development Bank Limited (NDBL).

A division bench of Justices Rajendra Prasad Koirala and Rana Bahadur Bam issued the order following today's hearing. The bench said it had declined the order, as there was no requirement to intervene into the issue.

The bench, however, has listed the case in its priority list for the final decision. Administrator of the Employees' Provident Fund Ramesh Bhattarai had moved the Supreme Court challenging the Patan Appellate Court order on July 29 to return the deposit of the common depositors while liquidating the bank.

The administrator demanded its intervention stating that the Section 18 (a) of the Employees' Provident Fund Act, 1963 guarantees the protection of the fund while liquidating any financial institution.

Directing to return the deposit of the small depositors with first priority, the Patan Appellate Court had okayed the liquidation of the troubled NDBL. A division bench of Judges Mohan Prasad Ghimire and Dinesh Kumar Karki had directed to start the process of liquidation as per the Insolvency Act, 2007. According to the Nepal Rastriya Bank, the NDBL has a total loss of Rs 670.87 million with total assets of Rs 730.13.