KATHMANDU, Feb 8: The Patan High Court has directed the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) to ensure that labor negotiations conducted for the welfare and rights of journalists are carried out peacefully.
A joint bench of judges Rishi Rajbhandari and Netra Prakash Acharya issued the order while hearing an injunction petition filed by Nepal Republic Media Limited (NRM), the publisher of Nagarik Daily and Republica Daily.
The court’s order on Friday reminded both the parties including the FNJ to conduct their negotiations peacefully, ensuring that discussions do not disrupt anyone’s work or harm anyone’s reputation as such actions would be considered unjustifiable.
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“The parties, including the petitioner and the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, are hereby reminded to ensure that the modalities of talks and negotiations remain peaceful, without causing obstruction to anyone’s profession or inflicting damage to reputation as such actions would not be justifiable,” the order stated.
During the hearing, NRM’s lawyers—Anjan Kumar Dahal, Ananta Raj Luintel, Pravin Subedi, and Bishal Thapa—argued that activities restricting press freedom cannot be justified, regardless of the parties involved. They stated that no interference could be made with constitutionally guaranteed rights and that a shutdown against the constitutionally ensured right to publication is unacceptable. They also emphasized that the right to media and publication, ensured under the Essential Services Act, 2014, cannot be stalled due to labour disputes.
While noting that NRM’s newspaper publication continued uninterrupted despite the FNJ’s move to lock out NRM’s corporate office on January 28, the High Court stated that obstructing anyone’s profession or occupation would not be lawful. It may be noted that the lockout enforced by FNJ was subsequently lifted with police assistance.
The bench further highlighted the sensitivity of the matter and directed that the case be given priority and fast-tracked for hearing.
In its injunction petition, NRM stated that the FNJ had staged a shutdown at its corporate office in response to labour-related issues raised by journalists and had made false allegations of labour exploitation against directors and company office-bearers, causing serious public defamation.
For more than ten months, some journalists and employees of NRM have remained absent from work without resigning, while continuing protests against the company, including padlocking the corporate office in collaboration with the FNJ.
The FNJ has been exerting continuous pressure to ensure salaries and other benefits for journalists who have remained absent from work. NRM filed the petition with the Patan High Court after the FNJ issued an ultimatum on January 25 threatening an indefinite strike, including padlocking the NRM office.
NRM has also informed the court that it has been making necessary arrangements for journalists’ social security and benefits.
