SC show cause to govt on Press law

Kathmandu, Aug 6-The Supreme Court on Friday issued show cause notices to government authorities on its stance on the provisions of the Press and Publication Act, 1991, and the National Broadcasting Act, 1992. The government has imposed restrictions on the media through these two Acts. A single bench of Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha issued the order responding to a writ petition filed by journalist Narayan Dutta Kandel. He has challenged Section 15 (1) of the 1991 Act and Section 7 of the 1992 Act. The defendents in the case are the Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Information and Communications and the Parliamentary Secretariat. The petitioner has requested the SC to annul the provisions since they are contradictory to the Constitution.

SC frees CIT men and debtor

Kathmandu, Aug6-Two officials of the Civil Investment Trust (CIT) and a debtor, who were serving jail terms on charges of corruption, were freed on bail after the Supreme Court said in a ruling on Wednesday that Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) had jailed them without fulfilling the necessary criteria. The RCCC had convicted Nandan Hari Sharma, executive director of the CIT, and a senior official of the CIT, Sushil Aryal, on July 22 for allocating a loan of Rs 4.96 crore to Nisha Thapa, the debtor, without completing necessary procedure.The RCCC had convicted Thapa for keeping her land at Putalisadak as collateral in three financial institutions, including the CIT, to build a supermarket in Putalisadak. Sharma had moved the apex court after the RCCC rejected his plea, in which he had appealed that he be freed on bail so that he can file an appeal at the court as a free person.Sharma, who has spent a month in jail, was freed on Friday after he deposited a bail amount of Rs 750, the amount for the remaining jail term. The three can now file plea against the RCCC verdict as free persons. The senior official of the CIT, Sushil Aryal, on whom the RCCC had slapped a month-long jail term for allocating loan to Nisha without carrying, was freed yesterday after submitting a bail amount of Rs 200. Nisha, who was also awarded a month-long jail term, was freed on Wednesday after depositing the bail amount of Rs 225 for the remaining jail term of nine days. A bench of justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhi said in a ruling on Wednesday that RCCC jailed them without completing necessary procedures.