KATHMANDU: The ongoing legal dispute is expected to affect SVH’s second casino project at Dhulabari in the far eastern district of Jhapa, where the company has purchased land worth Rs1 billion to build a five-star casino property to cater to the gaming population of Kolkata, Sikkim and other key Indian cities.
SVH, a company based in Hong Kong and listed on the Australian stock market, made its debut in Nepal by establishing Tiger Palace 1 casino resort in Bhairahawa. The resort-cum-casino, built at a cost of
Subsequently, Bajgain moved the Kathmandu District Court seeking annulment of the decision. On March 5, the court ordered the company’s director Mike Bolsover not to terminate its consultancy agreement with Bajgain. The company has since moved the Patan High Court to vacate the order issued by the district court.
Bajgain had claimed that 22 foreign staffers at Tiger Palace were working without work permits. Of them, 17 have left the country after the issue of illegal hiring came to the surface.
Nepali immigration officials confirmed the departure of 17 staff. However, they could not ascertain whether they were working illegally even after conducting an investigation.
The Department of Immigration had launched an investigation after Bajgain lodged a complaint about illegal deployment of foreign staff. During the investigation, a three-member panel led by Raju Prasad Poudel, under-secretary of the department, conducted an on-site inspection of the resort in Bhairahawa and enquired five top foreign officials working in the company. The panel submitted a report to the department last week.