KATHMANDU, Sept 17: The Kathmandu District Court on Monday dismissed the claim of former managing director of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), Gopal Khadka, against Nagarik daily, the sister publication of Republica daily.
A single bench of judge Parshuram Bhattarai dismissed the claim of Khadka who had filed a defamation case against Nagarik daily two years ago, demanding Rs 800 million in compensation for publishing news accusing him of being involved in corruption and irregularities.
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During the hearing, lawyers who argued on behalf of Nepal Republic Media (NRM) Pvt Ltd, claimed that there was no ground to establish the claim made by Khadka who himself was sacked following the initiation of investigation into his alleged corruption and the filing of a case against him “for accumulating property disproportionate to his legal sources of income” by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority at the Special Court. The lawyers also cited parliamentary investigations as well as Office of the Auditor General’s report on the irregularities at the NOC.
Senior advocates Rabi Narayan Khanal, Chandra Kanta Gyawali, and advocates Saroj Krishna Ghimire, Madhav Basnet, Ananta Raj Luitel, Bikash Bhattarai and Hari Prasad Gyawali argued on behalf of NRM while advocate Arun Gyawali represented Khadka.
Khadka had filed the case two years ago demanding compensation from NRM Managing Director Binod Raj Gyawali, Director Shova Gyawali, Editor-in-Chief of Nagarik daily Guna Raj Luitel and reporter Dilip Paudel for publishing news accusing him of being involved in corruption and irregularities.
The bench also decided another case filed by NRM Managing Director Gyawali against Khadka, claiming Rs 500 million from Khadka for recording a defamatory statement against him which was published in a parliamentary committee. The bench revoked this lawsuit as well.
