Contempt of court case: three-month imprisonment to journo duo Dhungana, Kandel

Kalika Khadka, Kathmandu, Sept 29: The Supreme Court on Sunday delivered a verdict to send journalist duo Nabin Dhungana and Yubraj Kandel over a contempt of court case- that they published a fake audio in the sidhakura.com online news portal.     

The extended full bench comprising Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, and Justices Prakashman Singh Raut, Sapana Pradhan Malla, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Hari Prasad Phunyal, Dr Nahakul Subedi, Binod Sharma, Mahesh Sharma Paudel and Balkrishna Dhakal decided that the audio content they posted on the news website committed a contempt of court. As per verdict, both Dhungana and Kandel would be sent to jail for three months.     

Such content was published without verification that spread misleading information on judiciary, the court said, however, adding that if the journalists confessed before the court and swore that they would not repeat such act, the punishment to them would be curtailed to a week of imprisonment.     

The court has reminded that the audio clip was not a mere act of carelessness but a factor contributing to create and spread distrust in court. Repeated publicity of the content had malafide intention.     

The sidhakura online media had published a fake audio clip which was provided by one Raj Kumar Timilsina that falsely implicated Supreme Court judges in involving in a deal over a case. Timilsina will be imprisoned for six months.(RSS)