Kathmandu, May 19

The Supreme Court  today refused to issue an interim order on a writ petition filed against Nepal Electricity Authority seeking to halt procurement of the light emitting diode bulbs.

A single bench of Justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai refused to issue an  interim order on the case, but issued a show cause notice to the defendants. The apex court also  ordered the two sides to present their arguments on whether or not an interim order should be issued, according to SC Spokesperson Mahendranath Upadhyay

Advocates Narayan Chaulagain and Lekhanath Bhattarai had filed a writ petition against the NEA’s plan  to procure LED from Energy Efficiency Services Ltd of India at INR 65 or Rs 104 per bulb, after the government recently  agreed to procure the LED bulbs.

The writ petitioners challenged the NEA’s plan claiming  that the procurement of LED bulb was against the provisions of Public Procurement Act, according to SC Spokesperson Upadhyay. The NEA has planned to procure 20 million LED bulbs to replace CFL and other bulbs that consumed more electricity than LED bulbs.

NEA is planning to sell these energy efficient bulbs at Rs 135 to Rs 140 per bulb after adjusting customs, value added tax, transportation charge, handling charge and damage loss, among others.

NEA has also said it is open to purchasing LED bulbs of similar quality at Rs 150 from a Nepali supplier, if any local supplier expresses interest.

The petitioners have named the  Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and  NEA and others as defendants.