The High Court has passed judgments for 40 civil cases involving Phajo Nidup. The judgments issued, following Phajo Nidup’s appeal to the High Court earlier this year, primarily concern financial institutions. According to the judgments, Phajo Nidup will have to restitute millions of ngultrum to various financial institutions and private individuals within three to six months. The judgments were rendered within a span of three months from May to September this year.
Around 52 individuals including 38-year-old Phajo Nidup appealed to the High Court after the Time-Bound Bench’s judgment earlier this year.
The Time-Bound Bench of the judiciary was established through an executive order from the Supreme Court in September last year for cases involving Phajo Nidup. The bench rendered judgments for over 100 cases.
The civil cases involve credit and liabilities Phajo Nidup owes to multiple private individuals and financial institutions.
According to the media and communication unit of the judiciary, of the 40 appeals the High Court received, judgments for 12 cases were upheld, 27 cases were partially reversed while one case was withdrawn by the appealing party.
Of the 27 partially reversed judgments, four involved the sale and purchase of property, while the remaining 23 were related to loans from financial institutions.
Initially, the Time-Bound Bench ordered Phajo Nidup to repay the principal amount of the loans, and certain bank officials to bear the liability for the accrued interest and penalties associated with the loans.
However, according to the media and communication unit of the judiciary, Phajo Nidup submitted an undertaking to repay the outstanding loans including interest and penalties by himself.
The High Court found that the bank officials were not held liable for accrued interest and penalties. According to the media and communication unit of the judiciary, the judgments were partially reversed based on legal principles.
In addition, the High Court ordered banks to take administrative action against officials for not adhering to the Credit Manuals.
Further, the Time Bound Bench issued a directive to banks to conduct auctions of properties based on the present market value of assets at the time of enforcement. However, according to the High Court, auctions are to be conducted in accordance with the Royal Monetary Authority’s guidelines.
According to the media and communication unit of the judiciary, seven civil cases involving Phajo Nidup have been appealed to the Supreme Court.
The High Court has yet to pass the judgments regarding Phajo Nidup’s criminal cases.
Kinzang Lhadon
