KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court of Nepal has issued an interim order directing the government not to implement the “Iodized Salt (Production and Sale-Distribution) Act, 1998” from the start of the new fiscal year.
A joint bench of Justices Til Prasad Shrestha and Mahesh Sharma Poudel issued the order on July 14, stating that the 25-year-old Act lacks necessary groundwork, including a regulation, required for its execution.
The court observed that enforcing the Act without prior preparations could disrupt the supply and distribution of iodized salt, a commodity directly linked to public health and livelihoods.
The order stated, “Since the Act was passed nearly 25 years ago and no regulation has been formulated to date, its implementation now, without essential preparations, may negatively impact the public’s access to iodized salt, which is vital for health.”
The justices further noted that there is no evidence of potential irreparable harm if the Act is not enforced immediately, and that the matter should be resolved during the final hearing of the writ petition.
Therefore, the court instructed the government not to implement the notice published in the Nepal Gazette on July 17, which would have enforced the Act from that date.
The ruling effectively puts on hold the government’s plan to begin implementing the long-dormant Act, which was initially enacted in 1998 to regulate the production and distribution of iodized salt in Nepal.
The petition against the Act was filed by Advocate Shilat Maharjan, who argued that the move appeared to facilitate private-sector import and distribution of iodized salt, a shift that could seriously compromise public health in the long term. Maharjan demanded the Act be scrapped altogether.
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