SC stays Nepal-India agreement on immigration, check posts

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Supreme Court today stayed implementation of the recently concluded agreement with India to upgrade the immigration system at Tribhuvan International Airport here and to set up immigration check-posts at Lumbini and Pashupatinagar.

A single bench of Justice Tarka Raj Bhatta issued the stay order following a hearing today, court sources said. The writ was filed by advocate Prasad Pandit.

In the writ petition, the advocate has claimed that the agreement inked by the Home Secretaries of Nepal and India on June 1 for upgrading the immigration system at the country's only international airport and set up Indian immigration offices in the two bordering cities has breached the Interim Constitution.

The election government has no authority to ink such an agreement, he added.

India has been keen since 1999 to ink the agreement for upgrading the immigration system at Tribhuvan International Airport.

The Indian concern rose after the 1999 Kandahar hijack incident.

India and Nepal have also agreed to set up a Nationa Police Academy in the Himalayan Kingdom.