Attorney General Savita Bhandari has been involved in controversial decisions ranging from influencing pending cases to acquitting defendants of crimes including tax evasion. Appointed on 29 Bhadra as the chief legal advisor to the new government formed with a commitment to good governance after the Gen-G movement, she has since made various controversial decisions, in which Prime Minister Sushila Karki has also remained silent. 

Attorney General Bhandari intervened on Sunday to prevent a government case related to revenue evasion from reaching the court. She has decided not to prosecute a tax evasion case worth about 7 billion against Internet service provider Worldlink Communications.

The Revenue Investigation Department had concluded that Worldlink had evaded revenue of Rs 2.94 billion by showing the telecommunications service charges (TSC) collected from the fiscal year 2077/78 to 081/82 as maintenance fees instead of depositing them in the government treasury. Similarly, the department has also stated that income tax was evaded by deducting illegal expenses in the income statement for 2080/81. Accordingly, the department had concluded that a case should be filed, fixing the amount at more than 7.36 billion rupees, including fines. 

The department had submitted an investigation report to the District Government Attorney's Office, Lalitpur, with the opinion that a case should be filed against Worldlink and its directors/officers as defendants in the case of revenue evasion and embezzlement of telecommunication service fees. The report was decided not to file a case by the District Government Attorney's Office and reached the High Government Attorney's Office and then to Attorney General Bhandari, which Bhandari approved on Sunday, and now the government is in a position where it cannot make a legal claim on the revenue. 

Attorney General Bhandari, however, said that the decision was made after the recommendation received from the District Government Attorney's Office at various levels since there was no basis to file a case. 'We have been discussing this dispute since I became the Attorney General. From the first day, the government attorneys had said that there was no basis or reason for filing a case. Then I called experts from the Telecommunications Authority and discussed it. They suggested that Telecommunication Service Charge (TSC) should not be levied on maintenance fees and that it would only spread fear and panic among internet service providers,' Bhandari said.

'Since there is a legal provision that Telecommunication Service Charge (TSC) should not be levied on maintenance fees, there is no concrete situation and basis for revenue leakage, so the Deputy Attorney General had submitted an opinion for final clearance, supporting the decision of the High Government Attorney's Office, Patan, which supported the decision of the District Government Attorney's Office, Lalitpur, not to prosecute the case. It seems that an investigation has revealed that an amount of Rs 738 million, 4830 crore was leaked towards income due to deduction of unaccounted expenses in the income statement for the fiscal year 080/81.

Nepal's tax system is based on a self-assessment system and if tax is assessed as per Section 99 and Section 100 of the Income Tax Act, 2058 BS, it appears that there is a provision that the Internal Revenue Department and its subordinate offices can assess the revised tax within 4 years from the date of submission of the income statement as per Section 101,' the Attorney General's decision states, 'In this way, when assessing the revised tax, the revised tax is determined by looking at all the details of all the expenses and incomes incurred in the income year, and therefore, it does not seem justified to prosecute for revenue leakage by not being able to deduct expenses on just one issue.'

Meanwhile, Worldlink has also welcomed the Attorney General's Office's decision not to prosecute. 'After deciding not to prosecute the dispute related to tax evasion, stating that there is no basis to prosecute, the confusion regarding internet tariffs and telecommunications service charges (TSC) has been removed,' Worldlink said in a press release. It has also claimed that this decision has interpreted the law in a way that will protect the existence of the internet industry.

Senior advocate Raju Chapagain says that the Attorney General is a position that protects the rule of law and human rights, but the Attorney General has misused and politicized the position. ‘The Attorney General is a position that protects the rule of law and human rights, he is also the head of legal professionals, it is a position that leads the rule of law. However, it has been seen that the position has been misused and politicized,’ says Chapagain.

However, Attorney General Bhandari insists that she has nothing to do with the controversy, saying that the decisions she made as Attorney General were made within the powers granted by the Constitution and the law. ‘No matter what anyone says, I have not done anything outside the law or with wrong intentions,’ she said.

The decision to amend the charge sheet to affect serious cases such as organized crime and money laundering pending in the court was also made by Attorney General Bhandari. Bhandari has also decided to intervene in the cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering cases pending in the court, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Lamichhane. The petition filed against it is being heard in the Supreme Court for a final order.

Bhandari has also decided to amend the charge sheet against Gorkha Media Network Chairman Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, who is on Interpol's 'Red Notice' and the fugitive list of various courts and police in Nepal, the then Managing Director of Gorkha Media and current RSS President Lamichhane, who was released on bail from various courts, and the Attorney General's decision to amend the charge sheet against cooperative fraud, money laundering and organized crime cases pending in the Kathmandu, Kaski, Rupandehi, Chitwan and Parsa courts has also been controversial. On 2 Magh 2082, Bhandari had decided to amend the charge sheet filed in various courts and remove the charges of money laundering and organized crime.

It has been a year since the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international forum that monitors financial transactions, placed Nepal on the 'grey list' of countries that launder money. Now, if efforts are not made to improve within a year, the country risks being blacklisted. The Nepal Bar Association had also objected to the Attorney General's decision to amend the charge sheet and benefit the defendant.

Similarly, Attorney General Bhandari had intervened and prevented the case of the girl's egg smuggling case from going to court. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the police had initiated an investigation on 26 Ashad 082 against 'Hope Fertility and Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd.' located in Babarmahal, Kathmandu, on charges of selling the girl's eggs. Hope Fertility was accused of extracting the girl's eggs by showing financial inducements and using them for commercial purposes. 

The CIB also registered a complaint for crimes against children and appointed Ashmi Adhikari, Dr. Swasti Sharma, Dr. Malina Chaudhary, Justina Pradhan and Alisa Wali were taken into custody. They were later released on bail. While the investigation was going on, Attorney General Bhandari's daughter Pratyush Baral was also involved in the case. Attorney General Bhandari is also a shareholder in the company.

The CIB had submitted a report with its opinion to the District Government Attorney's Office to investigate the egg smuggling case and file a case against those involved in the case. However, Bhandari, who became Attorney General on 29 Bhadra, decided a month later on 30 Ashoja to stop the investigation report against Hope Fertility from going to court and not to pursue the case. The decision was widely opposed and 'Transparency International Nepal' suspended Bhandari from even being an ordinary member.