Patan High Court allows Press Council for regulating online news portals

Kathmandu, Jan 8: The Patan High Court paved the way for the Press Council Nepal to regulate and take action against the online portals spreading unverified and misleading news and information.

On Wednesday, a division bench of judges, Khadananda Tiwari and Krishnaram Koirala, ruled in favor of the media content regulatory body, stating that no immediate order was required to interfere with the Council’s functions. The decision came in response to a writ petition filed by Diyo Media, a news portal, seeking an interim order against the Council’s decision.

The ruling has affirmed the Council’s authority in the matter, thereby enabling it to bring erring media to book. The ruling has a bearing on the Council’s decision to blacklist various online portals for spreading misleading and false information as well as failing to comply with the regulatory guidelines.

Advocates Anantaraj Luintel, Bikas Bhattarai, Leeladhar Upadhyay, Jhabindra Bhusal, Kirtinath Sharma, Bishal Thapa, and Pratibha Uprety represented the Council during the hearing on the writ. Earlier, the Patan High Court had ruled in favor of the Council, upholding its decision to blacklist an online news portal—www.nepalaaja.com—after it found the delisting legitimate. —RSS