The bench of judges Kumar Chudal and Giri Raj Poudyal said Dhakal could not furnish evidence to prove not guilty on the contempt of court case filed against him.[break]
“Keep him in judicial custody as per the law if he does not pay the bail amount,” the bench directed. The court has scheduled the next hearing for January 25 after Dhakal paid the bail amount which Morang journalists there to see the hearing had offered to jointly contribute.
The Appellate Court Bar Association chapters in Morang and Sunsari had jointly filed the contempt of court case claiming the news report “General date on abduction case” published in Nagarik daily on December 21 defamed the court.
Reporter Dhakal, Superintendent of Police in Morang Pradumna Karki, who had been quoted in the report, Editor-in-Chief of Nagarik Narayan Wagle, Nepal Republic Media Managing Director Binod Raj Gyawali and Director Shova Gyawali were made defendants in the case.
Advocates Madhav Kumar Basnet and Anjan Kumar Dahal pleading on Dhakal´s behalf had argued that commenting on a court verdict does not amount to contempt of court.
“We cannot decide that it resulted in contempt merely because the presidents of three bar chapters lodged a complaint,” Dahal argued.
He compared Dhakal´s news report to the media coverage of the lenient bail amount slapped by the Apex Court on the Sudan scam accused and said that Dhakal can´t be judged to have defamed the court while there was no such precedent in the Sudan scam case.
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