n a bid to make the public agencies transparent and accountable to the public, freedom1 Forum has continued seeking information with different government bodies as per the RTI Act. Of late, freedom1 Forum Chairman Taranath Dahal, on August 6, 2012 sought the following information with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) as per clause 3 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act for the personal study: a. Information about the detailed amount of revenue generated from 518 firms which were found evading revenue making fake VAT bills/invoices as per the report of a task force coordinated by Laxman Aryal two years back. Separate details of the amount collected as fine to the firms. b. Names, addresses, proprietors or share holders of the 518 firms which were brought to book. c. What are the crimes of the 518 firms? Information in details, d. Who were the auditors of the 518 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.
