The Supreme Court on Monday ordered sidhakura.com, a Kathmandu-based news website, to take down misleading content within 24 hours.

A divisional bench of justices Nahakul Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana passed the order while responding to a suo moto contempt of court case against the publisher and editor of the news portal publishing defamatory content against one of the justices of the top court.

The court also ordered the defendants not to produce, broadcast or re-broadcast any other content related to the issue until a final verdict is announced.

The bench ordered publisher Yuvaraj Kandel and executive editor Navin Dhungana to appear before the court for a statement.

The court has also ordered the Inspector General of Nepal Police to investigate the factual and technical aspects of the audio-visual material within 15 days, and if it is found that the prevailing criminal law has been violated, to proceed with the action and submit the report to the court.

The news website took down all the related contents on Monday, hours before the order from the apex court. All contents have been suspended as the study and investigation process have moved ahead as per a letter from the Press Council Nepal, the news website said.

On Sunday, Govinda Ghimire, a deputy registrar at the top court, filed the writ petition claiming that serious fabricated and misleading audio-visual content published by the website was a malicious attempt to defame the judiciary. Thus it is a contempt of court, Ghimire has claimed.

The news website in its audiovisual content has claimed that the chairpersons of two leading media houses were a part of a meeting with the incumbent and former Supreme Court justices and senior advocates to dismiss over 400 corruption cases in the court.

The petitioner demanded an order for immediate removal of the content from YouTube and other social media, and summoning the individuals involved in the production and dissemination of the defamatory content for their statements, to ensure that such acts do not repeat.

Stating that the production and publication of such content is a criminal offence, the petitioner has also sought an order against relevant government agencies for an investigation into the content and regular reporting to the court.