The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on Tuesday directed against approving the sale of Ncell.

The parliamentary committee directed the government to halt the Malaysian company Axiata’s efforts to sell its shares in the Nepal-based mobile service provider until a detailed investigation into the matter is completed.

The decision was taken following the committee’s meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and government spokesperson Rekha Sharma.

The letter issued by the committee directs “…the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Finance Ministry, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply not to approve or consent to the buyout of Ncell until the final report of the investigative committee has been completed.”

The committee has also directed the government to take into account the findings of the ‘share purchase and sale investigation committee 2080’ and recover all due amounts, including taxes, applicable as per law.

Similarly, the committee has instructed evaluation of the buyer’s ability and experience during the sale of large companies like Ncell.

The government had formed a five-member high-level committee to investigate the buyout of Ncell on December 7. A Cabinet meeting constituted the panel under former auditor general Tanka Mani Sharma. It has been given 30 days to study the matter and submit its report.

On December 1, Axiata announced that it had entered into an unconditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Spectrlite UK Limited to sell Reynolds Holding Limited, which owns approximately 80 percent equity stake in the Nepal-based Ncell Axiata Limited.

Spectrlite UK, registered in the United Kingdom in September this year, is owned by Satish Lal Acharya, a person of Nepali origin currently based in Singapore. Sunivera Capital Venture, owned by his wife Bhavana Singh Shrestha, has another 20 percent stake in Ncell.