Court halts NTB CEO selection process

KATHMANDU: The Patan High Court has ordered the government not to proceed with any work related to the selection of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

A single bench of High Court Judge Sudarshan Raj Pandey issued a temporary interim order on Monday, prohibiting any action regarding the selection of the CEO of the Board.

The court said in its order that the nomination of NTB Executive Members, Milan Devkota and Madan Kumar Acharya, in the selection sub-committee is illegal, which makes the sub-committee illegitimate.

After the hearing on a writ petition filed by Kundan Sharma Mishra of NTB Employees Association and others, the court asked the defendants to submit a written response within 15 days.

The court’s interim order has put a halt to the CEO selection process until further notice.

The sub-committee has already 16 applicants for the vacant position. The shortlisted applicants include Thakur Prasad Devkota, Hikmat Singh Ayer, Bijay Nepal, Raja Ram Giri, Raja Ram KC, Gyan Rai, Nabin Pokharel, Gyaneshwar Prasad Singh Mahato, Surya Bahadur Ghimire, Santosh Bikram Thapa, Deepak Bastakoti, Laxman Gautam and Ram Chandra Sedhai.