KATHMANDU: The Full Bench of the Supreme Court has affirmed its previous verdict regarding the fake VAT bill case against Bhatbhateni Departmental Store, accusing them of creating fraudulent bills to evade taxes.

The bench comprising Justices Kumar Chudal, Tek Prasad Dhungana, and Balkrishna Dhakal issued the decision on Tuesday.

This ruling, in continuation of the Supreme Court’s previous decision, validates the assessment of tax, fines, and interest against Bhatbhateni Departmental Store.

According to sources, the department store is obligated to pay a hefty sum of over Rs 2 billion, including taxes, fines, and interest to the state treasury. The current verdict emphasizes that Bhatbhateni engaged in tax evasion, under-reporting VAT, and interest payments, leading to a loss of Rs 1.36 billion to the government.

This decision follows the previous verdict by the Revenue Tribunal, ratified by the then Chief Justices Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Prakash Kumar Dhungana.

Bhatbhateni Departmental Store had appealed for a review of the decision, and then Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana had reportedly exerted undue pressure on the justices to facilitate so as to make room for the review.

Supreme Court’s three-member bench, led by Justices Tej Bahadur KC, Bam Kumar Shrestha, and Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma on June 24, 2021, had ordered a review of the decision o based on the new appeal.

Bhatbhateni had requested a review, stating that the initial decision overlooked certain aspects of their expenditures.