A special bench of SC Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha and Justices Bal Ram KC and Prakash Wasti said that the MoF decision to exempt taxpayers from legal action or punishment under any existing law was inappropriate. [break]
On September 19, 2008, MoF had decided that taxpayers who declared their propriety under the VDIS scheme would be exempted from any legal punishment to be meted out under existing law.
Lawyer Kamalesh Divedi had filed a writ at the SC challenging the MoF decision two years ago. The SC special bench said the MoF decision contravenes the powers of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and of various courts of law to take action against those found guilty of financial irregularities, and thus the ministry´s decision stands annulled.
The then Maoist-led government had announced the VDIS scheme with a view to give people an opportunity to correct past misconduct in not paying their taxes.
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