Govt seeks right to censorship on media

Kathmandu, September 6-The government today urged the Supreme Court to uphold its power to re-impose censorship on the media. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, was responding to an apex court show cause notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against it. “The right to impose a censorship on the media yet again is needed to protect the sovereignty and national integrity of the country, to protect the concept of democratic society, and for an accountable government,” secretary at the Ministry, Dr Kul Ratna Bhurtel, claimed in a written reply to the SC. The Ministry requested the SC to secure the authority as per Clause 7 of the National Broadcasting Act, 1992, and Clause 15 of the Press and Publication Act, 1991.
The Ministry said these provisions should not be scrapped by the apex court as demanded by advocate Narayan Dutta Kandel. The petitioner had filed the PIL in the SC challenging these provisions, which authorised the government to impose a censorship on the print and electronic media. He claimed that such provisions were against Article 13(1) of the Constitution that states that the media cannot be stopped from publishing news, articles and other reading materials. The Ministry, however, claimed that Article 13 (1) has secured the authority to impose the censorship to protect the national sovereignty and integrity of the nation. “The government has the authority to impose a censorship on the media as per Clause 15(1) of the 1992 Act for a six-month period,” the reply further stated.