Kathmandu, August 17:

The Supreme Court said today that any television channel registered abroad can operate in Nepal even if it is not registered here.

Quashing a writ petition challenging the operation of Nepal 1 television channel here, a division bench of Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Gauri Dhakal issued a verdict to this effect. “Since the channel has been operating here after registering itself in India under the name of TV Live, there is no need for registering the channel in Nepal,” the bench observed.

Claiming that the channel had been operating by violating Nepal’s law, advocate Bhupendra Pokhrel had filed a writ petition in September. He had said that by not registering itself with the Nepali authority concerned the channel had disrespected Nepal’s law.

Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Rayamajhi said, “As people want to watch several television channels based in different parts of the world, there is no point in questioning the operation of the Nepal 1 channel here.” The Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, Ministry of Information and Communications, Nepal 1 Television and its proprietor Birendra Yadav were made the defendants in the petition.