Kathmandu. Ncell has expressed serious objection to the government’s decision to make public the investigation report on the purchase and sale of shares of Ncell.

Ncell has accused the government of breaching its constitutional and legal obligations by making public sensitive information and details that should be kept confidential by the law.

Issuing a press release on Thursday, Ncell said that the investigation committee led by Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal had made public the ‘Study and Investigation Report on Share Purchase of Ncell, 2080’, which was made public on August 12 and the decision of the Council of Ministers held on August 12.

The report has been made public through the website of the Ministry of Information and Communications, exposing sensitive information that is kept secret by law in the pretext of good governance, transparency and ensuring citizens’ access to information.

The company has strongly condemned the government’s move to make the report public violating the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy. “The right to seek legal remedy is protected in accordance with national and international laws and treaties,” the statement said.

“This sends a message internationally that the government is not committed to investor privacy and data privacy. This has further dimmed the environment for foreign investment. “It is highly regrettable that publishing a matter that is kept confidential by law without the consent of the concerned person is a criminal offence as per the prevailing law,” reads the statement.

The High Court on July 14, 2083 dismissed the writ petition filed on the issue of public rights and concerns demanding that the report of the probe committee be made public.

“The decision to make public the investigation report contrary to the annulled verdict and to make the report public is against the court order and a serious violation of the constitutional and legal obligation to abide by the court’s decision and verdict,” reads the statement.

“The decision to make the report public, which has been declared confidential by the court, is a historic and unfortunate event,” the statement said.

“The information, details and information collected by the investigation committee formed to investigate the facts are confidential. The Government of Nepal may take such information, details and information and use it to ascertain whether any crime has been committed in connection with the related incident or act or transaction, to conduct further investigation and to prosecute it. However, it cannot be published in a way that is accessible to the general public. No law authorizes this to happen,” the statement said.

Any company and its investment and business matters, information, information and details are confidential by law.

Release issued by Ncell

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Government of Nepal, Cabinet meeting dated 2083. 4. The said decision was made on 26th and dated 2083. 4. On the basis of this decision, the report of the probe committee led by Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal ‘Study and Investigation Report on Share Purchase and Sale of Ncell, 2080′ has been made public. It has come to our notice that the report has been made public through the website of the Ministry of Information and Communications, exposing sensitive information that is kept secret by law in the pretext of good governance, transparency and citizens’ access to information.

The company strongly condemns the government’s move to make public the report violating the right to privacy guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal and reserves its right to seek legal remedies in accordance with national and international laws and treaties.

This sends a message internationally that the government is not committed to investor privacy and data privacy. This has further dimmed the environment for foreign investment. It is also highly regrettable that publishing things that are kept secret by law without the consent of the concerned person is a criminal offense as per the prevailing law.

A writ petition on public rights and concerns was filed by the High Court dated 2083 BS demanding that the report of the probe committee be made public. 3. The decision to make public the investigation report contrary to the repeal of the judgment which was repealed on 31.01.2020 and the decision of the same is final and to make the report public is a serious violation of the judicial decorum and constitutional and legal obligation to abide by the decision and verdict of the court. The decision to make public the report, which has been declared confidential by a respected court, is a historic and unfortunate event.

The information, details and information collected by the investigation committee formed to investigate the facts are confidential. The Government of Nepal may take such information, details and information and use it to ascertain whether any crime has been committed in connection with the related incident or act or transaction, to conduct further investigation and to prosecute it. However, it cannot be published in a way that is accessible to the general public. No law authorizes this to happen.

Any company and its investment and business matters, information, information and details are confidential by law. Since the report of the investigation committee has been made public, the company has been given the right to privacy guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of Nepal, the right to privacy of property under Section 10 of the Personal Privacy Act, 2075, the right to confidentiality of documents under Article 11, the right to confidentiality of data under Section 12, the right to confidentiality of correspondence under Section 13, the right to privacy of character provided by Article 15, the right to privacy of electronic media under Section 19, We would like to clarify that the right to privacy guaranteed by Section 74 of the Income Tax Act, 2058 and Section 37 of the Value Added Tax Act, 2052 has been violated. We would also like to inform you that this step of the government has violated the fundamental rights and legal rights of the shareholders, directors and beneficiaries of this company.

In order to make the details public, the legislature should have been able to justify the authority, reasonable cause and justification of the law. The legislature has enacted the Personal Privacy Act, 2075 to protect the rights guaranteed by Article 28 of the constitution and to further systematize the right to privacy of the individual. According to the provisions of this Act, the property, documents, data, transaction details of the person are vested in the concerned person. Contrary to the legislative commitment not to publish such details without the consent of the person concerned, the government cannot make any provision to make such information public, to give access to third parties or otherwise to make them known to the public, which is contrary to the Constitution, prevailing law and international practice.

The release of the probe committee’s report has violated the government’s constitutional and legal commitments and credibility. In a democratic system of governance and the rule of law, this is completely forbidden. The act of the state contrary to this provision that the state has guaranteed that the property, transactions and documents of the person will remain confidential by making a law is a mockery of the law.

We would also like to inform you that the company will take the necessary decision in this regard as there is a provision to punish the offender and seek compensation for the things prohibited by the Personal Privacy Act. This move of the government has caused irreparable damage to the company as the confidentiality of various confidential information related to this company has been breached. This has also violated the fundamental right of the company and its shareholders, directors and beneficiaries to live with dignity and the right to freedom of doing business.

We want to make it clear that this move of the government will lose the confidence of the investors and will create a big obstacle in the promotion of investment and business and the country will have to suffer in the long run.