National
SC to record Kantipur statements tomorrow
The Supreme Court on Friday decided to record statements in a contempt of court case against the Kantipur daily on Sunday.The Supreme Court on Friday decided to record statements in a contempt of court case against the Kantipur daily on Sunday.
Chairman and Managing Director of Kantipur Publi-cations Kailash Sirohiya, Director Swastika Sirohiya, Kantipur Editor-in-Chief Sudheer Sharma and journalist Krishna Gyawali, who have been made defendants in the case, had reached the apex court at 2pm on Friday.
But the SC decided to postpone the proceedings until 10am on Sunday citing time constraints. SC Spokesperson Narayan Panthi said their statements will be recorded on Sunday as the court closes early on Friday.
The SC on Wednesday had issued a subpoena to Kantipur in a contempt of court case. The apex court had ordered the four Kantipur members to appear at the court in person within 72 hours of receiving the summons.
Speaking to the media, Chairman Sirohiya said that the Kantipur team had appeared in the court respecting its order. “I’ll come to the court again on Sunday. We are ready to take any decision to protect press freedom,” he said.
Editor-in-Chief Sharma thanked all who reached the court to express their solidarity with the daily. Leaders of political parties, rights activists and journalists, among other people, gathered on the court premises to express solidarity with Kantipur.
A single bench of Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli issued the interim order on February 25, directing the Press Council Nepal to probe the news reports published by Kantipur that highlighted discrepancies in his birth date as shown by his official documents.
National and international journalists’ bodies have condemned the move calling it a clear case of ‘prior censorship’ and against the principle of natural justice which demands that the chief justice stay away from the case involving himself.