New NTA Chairman: Goyal files case against Jha appointment

KATHMANDU, DEC 10 -

Bishwa Nath Goyal has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the appointment of Digambar Jha as the chairman of the Nepal Telecommunica-tions Authority (NTA). Goyal was among the top three candidates shortlisted for the post.

On Dec 4, the government appointed Jha as the new NTA chairman based on the direct proposal presented to the Cabinet by the Minister for Information and Communications Raj Kishor Yadav.

While presenting the proposal to the Cabinet, Yadav violated the norms that seek every such proposal be presented to the Cabinet through the chief secretary, sources said.

Jha appointment was also controversial because he does not meet the selection criteria set in the Telecommunications Regulation.

Government officials said as per the law, Goyal was the most capable among the three candidates—the third being Anil Jha—shortlisted for the post. He is the former managing director of Nepal Telecom.

Goyal said Jha’s appointment ‘is against the law’ and he wants a legal description. “Since the government-appointed person is not qualified as per the rules, I filed a writ seeking a rollback of the decision,” he said.

As per the regulation, an NTA chairman should at least have a bachelor’s and a 10-year experience in the related field. However, Jha, a mechanical engineer by profession, has no expertise in the telecom sector. He is the former managing director of Nepal Oil Corporation.

Jha assumed his office as new NTA chairman last Thursday.

The top three candidates were shortlisted from among seven candidates appearing for the interview taken by a committee formed under the coordination of Communi-cations Ministry Secretary Surya Prasad Silwal.

Thirteen individuals had applied for the top NTA post. On the basis of the experience in the telecom sector, Goyal was the dominant candidate compared to the Jha duo. Anil Jha has been appointed as general manager of Janak Shikshya Samagri.

The first hearing of the case is scheduled for Monday.

This is the second time that a writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the NTA chairman selection procedure. Nearly four weeks ago, Rajiv Rauniyar, an applicant for the NTA chairman and board member posts, had filed a writ petition in the court seeking a stay order against the selection process.

Rauniyar had said the vacancy notice was published without following the government-set rules. The court, however, rejected Rauniyar’s claims and gave a decision in favour of the selection process on Nov 22.

Source: The Kathmandu Post