Stay order released by the Supreme Court in favor of NMA

Posted in: 9th Dec, 2015 Post Category: Blog of Nepal

The Supreme Court issued stay order on 8 Dec on the decision of Government of Nepal regarding the withdrawal of authority of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) to issue climbing permits for 27 mountains.
Government of Nepal authorized NMA on 18 January 1978 to issue permits for 18 peaks between 5,587 meter to 6,654 meter in the Manang, Annapurna, Langtang and Khumbu area. On 16 Sep 2002, NMA was shouldered upon the responsibility by Government of Nepal to issue mountaineering permits to 15 more new peaks to climbers and mountaineers. These peaks are also known as the NMA Climbing Peaks. After the decision of government to waive royalty for the mountains below 5800m, currently NMA is issuing permits for 27 mountains. The cabinet decision taken on 9 Oct 2015 cancelled its authority to issue climbing permits and since then, it was issued by Department of Tourism.
The stay order released by the respected Supreme Court on 8 Dec instructed Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation not to follow the cabinet decision of 9 Oct 2015, which paved the way for NMA to issue climbing permits again.