Kathmandu, May 12

President of main opposition Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba today said the government was planning to stage a coup d’état against press freedom and journalism through the introduction of Media Council Bill.

Stating that the NC had been advocating and fighting for liberty, freedom and human rights since its inception, Deuba said his party would not accept at any cost moves to curtail press freedom.

“Freedom is our ideology and ideal. We will launch protests in Parliament and outside against any move aimed at curtailing freedom,” said Deuba at a press conference at the Nepali Congress headquarters in Sanepa, Lalitpur.

The government on May 9 registered a new bill in the Parliament regarding the constitution of Nepal Media Council, proposing to impose a fine up to Rs 1 million on media outlets, editors, publishers and journalists if they were found guilty of damaging someone’s reputation.

Section 18 (1) of the new bill stipulates that if any media publish content in contravention of the code of conduct and if an investigation launched after the affected party’s complaint finds that such news content damaged the reputation of the complainant, then the council can impose a fine between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 million on media outlets, publishers, editors, journalists and reporters.

Section 18, Sub-section (2) of the bill stipulates that the council can order the erring parties to pay compensation if the content in media outlets damages the reputation of the affected party.

Section 17 proposes punishment for violating the code of conduct which includes suspending press pass of mediapersons and downgrading the classification of media outlets.

The bill also proposes to form a committee under a government secretary to recommend the chairperson of Nepal Media Council, which the NC says will relegate the Nepal Media Council to a branch of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Deuba said press freedom was an important component of democracy, and that his party was always with journalists. “Whenever you [journalists] need us, we are always there for you,” said Deuba.

According to the NC, the new bill contradicts the constitution that guarantees ‘complete press freedom’ in the preamble. The new bill has also removed words ‘autonomous’ and ‘semi-judicial’ mentioned in the Press Council Act, ending the autonomous and semi-judicial nature of the council.

“We will not allow any bill, including the Media Council Bill, that contradicts the constitution to move ahead in the Parliament,” said NC Chief Whip Bal Krishna Khand. “The government must revise the bill and make it compatible with the constitution.”

NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said the bill’s provision that the government could fire the council’s chairperson or members if their work was not found satisfactory meant that the council should always work as per the minister’s wishes.

He wondered what kind of democracy the government was trying to institutionalise by curtailing press freedom. “Journalists themselves fought for press freedom. It is not something that is gifted by communists,” he said.

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