Relief for Indian 'casino king', SC stays scrapping of license
Nepal's top court today stayed the order of the government to scrap the license of Indian 'Casino King' Rakesh Wadhwa to run casinos in the country amid tax liabilities row.
Nepal's top court today stayed the order of the government to scrap the license of Indian 'Casino King' Rakesh Wadhwa to run casinos in the country amid tax liabilities row.
Justice Girishchandra Lal of the Supreme Court issued the stay order on the government decision to revoke the license of Nepal Recreation Centre (NRC), which is owned by Wadhwa and operates four casinos in the country.
The court issued notices to the government and the NRC and directed them to be present at the next hearing on July 11, nepalnews online said.
Last week, Wadhwa had filed a case in the Supreme Court after authorities scrapped the license of NRC. Earlier this year, the government began the process to close down some of the casinos that attracts thousands of foreign tourists, mostly Indians, after recommendations from the finance ministry for tax evasions.
Even though gambling is illegal in Nepal, eight hotels in the capital and two in the popular tourist town of Pokhara run casinos under special government permits that bars local people. Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma, the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, had revoked the licenses of NRC to operate the casinos after it allegedly failed to clear its tax liabilities.
NRC owes the government Rs 34 crore for running four casinos – Casino Tara at Hotel Hyatt, Casino Nepal at Hotel Soaltee, Casino Anna at Hotel Annapurna and Casino and Casino Everest at Hotel Everest, the report said.