Apex court summons Deshantar editor

The Supreme Court summoned editor and publisher of Deshantar weekly to attend in person or to submit written arguments in three days to defend a charge of contempt of court.A single bench of Justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhi issued the notice in a contempt of court case filed against editor Kabir Rana, chairman of the Deshantar publication Bandhu Thapa and its unnamed reporter.The bench issued the order in response to a case filed by advocate Tek Bahadur Rawal against them in relation with a news report published in its latest edition on Sunday.“Attend in person to record statements regarding the charge or send written arguments within three days,” the bench told the defendants.The case filed by advocate Rawal has accused the paper of carrying a news with a headline Bhattarai’s new campaign to influence the Supreme Court, which deals with a sub-judice case related with alleged corruption by Bijaya Nath Bhattarai, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank and the NRB executive director Surendra Man Pradhan. Publication of the news is contemptuous, advocate Rawal has claimed.The bench has also told the editor to produce the unnamed reporter of the news.