• Press Council chairman leaves for US after decision • Council members unaware • Order shared with Nirmal Purja before THT?
KATHMANDU, MARCH 11
The Press Council Nepal (PCN) has made an arbitrary decision to take 'unconstitutional action' against The Himalayan Times following its series of investigative stories exposing British mountaineer of Nepali origin Nirmal Purja, aka Nims Purja, and his United Kingdom-based company - Elite Exped.
According to a member of PCN's media monitoring committee, the council's decision was based solely on the 'content analysis' submitted by the Elite Exped team. "None of the members of the board or the media monitoring panel, except for PCN Chairman Bal Krishna Basnet, were involved in the decision-making process," he said.
Even after THT sought clarification regarding the move, PCN officials refused to acknowledge or register its immediate response. Meanwhile, Basnet left for the United States immediately after taking this arbitrary decision, thereby raising serious que-stions about the entire process.
Surprisingly, a copy of the illegal and undemocratic order was shared by the PCN with Purja, who made it public through his social media handles yesterday morning, much before it was sent to THT. This suggests that THT was denied the right to respond to the allegations, indicating ulterior motives of vested interest groups - both within and outside the PCN.