The Supreme Court has issued an interim order not to implement the decision made by former Attorney General Savita Bhandari regarding the withdrawal of WorldLink's tax case. A joint bench of Justices Binosh Sharma and Shrikant Poudel issued an interim order not to implement the decision today. 

The court's order has been issued to keep the decision made by the then Attorney General Savita Baral Bhandari on Chaitra 2082 as it was. Bheshraj Luintel had filed a writ petition seeking a stay on the implementation of Bhandari's decision. 

After this order of the Supreme Court, the implementation of the decision has been stayed, but the tax assessment will not be done until the decision is made. Similarly, WorldLink will not get any exemption. 

'The writ petition filed by WorldLink Communication in the Supreme Court regarding the calculation of income for maintenance and maintenance expenses will be dismissed.  The order dated 30th Baisakh 2081, as well as the issue of whether the revenue/tax to be received by the state is a dispute of public interest, as well as the decision of the Attorney General not to prosecute the case, should be resolved through a full hearing,' the order states, 'As a result of the decision not to prosecute the claim of the writ petition, the state's revenue collection process, tax payment settlement and license renewal process will be affected, as well as the service delivery/competition of other competing service providers, the decision of the Attorney General of the State of Nepal not to prosecute the case of Worldlink from 2076/77 to 80/81 will be kept in the status quo until the final resolution of the writ petition is received.'

The Supreme Court order states that out of the fees charged for telecommunication services provided by the company, 50 percent of the amount is for internet service and 50 percent is for maintenance or division, and the maintenance fee has been deducted based on the provision of Section 15(2) of the Finance Act, 2077 and subsequent Finance Acts, which provided 13 percent in the initial year and 10 percent from 2080.

Nepal Telecom, on the other hand, has paid 66 percent of the fee by making a provision of 66 percent for telecommunication service (internet) fee and only 33 percent for maintenance and maintenance, the Supreme Court order states.

‘Although Section 42 of the Nepal Telecommunications Act, 2053 states that the rate of telecommunication service fee shall be as approved by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal Telecom has paid 33 percent of the fee among those providing the same type of service. "It is seen that the respondent Worldlink has taken a 50 percent fee discount on the total fee for the same service received by the consumer,' the order states, 'It seems that there is no objective basis for the consumer to pay more or less revenue (fee) for the same service received. It is a matter that needs to be resolved in a full hearing. ’ 

The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the Attorney General's decision, saying that the decision on whether the 50 percent discount received for maintenance was right will be made only when it is decided, and the government has opened the way for an investigation into Worldlink. 

The Revenue Investigation Department has found that Worldlink Communications has acted in a way that caused leakage of the amount collected from the service recipient for providing internet service or revenue/tax due.  2 billion 943 million 741 thousand 823 rupees towards telecommunications service fees and 730 million 8 lakhs towards income tax, a total of 3 billion 674 million 444 million 46 thousand 653 rupees  The dispute reached the Supreme Court after Attorney General Bhandari decided not to proceed with the case after a report was submitted with an opinion.