Police have asked three online news media to present the source of news regarding the performance evaluation report of former DIG Nawaraj Silwal. Silwal was elected to House of Representatives from Lalitpur Constituency 1 in the recently held elections.

Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu wrote to muldharnews.com, sushasannews.com and suvadin.com asking them to present the originals and duplicate of Silwal’s performance evaluation for the fiscal year 2072-73. The aforesaid online portals were also asked to disclose the source of those documents.

DIG Silwal, taking exception to government preparation to appoint DIG Jaya Bahadur Chand as the chief of the police last year, had moved Supreme Court claiming that he had obtained higher points in the evaluation report. Following the SC verdict, the government had than appointed than DIG Prakash Aryal as IGP. After this, Silwal had submitted a copy of his performance evaluation to Supreme Court claiming that he had obtained higher points than Aryal.

A full text of SC verdict regarding the case which was recently made public had ordered police to investigate whether the evaluation reports submitted by Silwal were authentic. Police have stated that they have initiated investigation onto Silwal’s case once again.

According to police, Silwal said that he obtained the performance evaluation report from aforementioned portals. Based on this, the police decided to seek the source of performance evaluation report published by these online portals.

On contrary, media related institutions have taken exception to the police move. Press Chautari Nepal has stated that its attention has been drawn on this matter.

“Ordering media to present the source of news and seeking call details of journalist is not only a naked intervention to the freedom of press and expression but also is a serious case of threat from the state,” said Press Chautari.