The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has denied information for a long time flouting the RTI Act 2007. First the Information Officer in the IRD was sought information on August 6, 2012. As he failed to provide complete information, the Chief in the IRD was moved on August 29, 2012 in line with clause 9 (1) of the RTI Act. Interestingly, the IRD Chief Tanka Mani Sharma too denied the information the FF Chairman Taranath Dahal sought leading the FF to move to the NIC on October 14, 2012 seeking its directive to the IRD Chief along with necessary action. After not getting any information by the NIC even after 60 days of the appeal as mentioned by Clause 10 (4) of the RTI Act 2007, FF Chairman Dahal filed an application at the NIC on December 18, 2012 again. In the application filed, Mr Dahal has asked for immediate information on what it did to the IRD, if there were any information received from IRD and others in this regard. FF Chairman Dahal had sought the following information: a. Amount of revenue generated from 518 firms which were found evading revenue making fake VAT bills/invoices as per the report of a taskforce coordinated by Laxman Aryal two years back. Separate details of the amount collected as fine to the firms. b. About proprietors or share holders of the 518 firms which were brought to book, c. Crimes of the 518 firms, and d. Auditors of the firms
Freedom Forum is a prominent non-governmental organization in Nepal dedicated to institutionalizing democracy, protecting and promoting human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information, promoting audit accountability, open and accountable budget, public finance reforms, citizen engagement in public finance management and citizen participation in audit. Established in February 2005, the organization emerged in response to the political turmoil following Former King Gyanendra’s coup dated February 1, 2005, which imposed severe restrictions on media and democratic rights. A group of media professionals, legal experts, and academics founded Freedom Forum to safeguard Nepal’s hard-earned democratic freedoms during this repressive period.
