A legal practitioner said that since the Nepal Airlines Corporation Act does not mention anything about the age of the CEO, the provisions mentioned in the working procedures will apply.

However, Shrestha was given the responsibility of the Executive Director, contrary to the procedure.

Earlier, Shrestha was among the five directors whose appointments were cancelled by the Supreme Court. According to the Ministry of Tourism, five board members were appointed to the corporation on 31 Baisakh. The appointment was cancelled by the Supreme Court. Shrestha was among the five who were cancelled.

A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court alleging that the government had arbitrarily selected the appointments and not based on the merit list recommended by the selection committee.

The Supreme Court had quashed the appointment while hearing a writ petition filed by Upendra Bahadur Karki, who was recommended first. However, the government recently appointed five people who were in the qualifying order as directors, and among the directors, Shrestha was given the responsibility of executive chairman and general manager, said Jayanarayan Acharya, spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism.

"The Nepal Air Service Corporation Act does not mention the age limit for the appointment of directors and chief executives, and they were appointed as directors accordingly, but since the post of general manager is currently vacant in the corporation, the decision to give him the responsibility of executive chairman and general manager from among the directors was made by the Council of Ministers," said Spokesperson Acharya.

Who is the best?

Shrestha has five decades of experience in the country's civil aviation sector. Having worked for more than two decades at the Nepal Airlines Corporation, he was the 10th level corporate director when he was removed by the government in 2049 BS.

Currently, only employees who joined the regular service of the airline after he retired are working. Because, employees retire regularly after serving 30 years in the corporation or reaching the age of 58. However, it has been 34 years since Shrestha retired from the corporation.

He was then active as a consultant. He wrote a book titled 'Nepali Aviation and Tourism' in 2000. Until recently, he also worked as a consultant in the capacity development program of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

He had prepared a report for the corporation to purchase large aircraft (Boeing) required for international flights. He was involved in the Boeing purchase plan. This was at least four and a half decades ago.