Nepal

Kathmandu/Surkhet, August 14

The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has yet to decide the fate of Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development of Karnali province Khadka Bahadur Khatri, who has been indicted in a banking offence.

Patan High Court directed the police yesterday to arrest and produce him before the court within three days.

Chief Minister of Karnali Province Mahendra Bahadur Shahi told THT that the court order was a matter between Khatri and the court. &We will abide by the law,& he said when asked if he was going to sack Khatri in the face of his indictment.

Khatri is among five individuals who have been accused of providing fake bank guarantees of Rs 10.1 million to Bhojpur Technical Committee.

When asked if the ruling NCP will seek expulsion of Khatri from the Karnali government, party Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said, &I cannot say that at this stage because our party has not discussed the issue.& He, however, hastened to add that according to NCP the law should apply to everybody without any distinction.

The government recently filed a banking offence against Khatri, Raju Prasad Shrestha, Chhabi Lal Dhakal, Randhir Tumba and Dev Jung Shahi for submitting two fake bank guarantees to Bhojpur Technical Committee between June and November 2016. As per the chargesheet, the defendants prepared two fake bank guarantees of Rs 10.1 million of Agriculture Development Bank, Bhojpur, and submitted them to Bhojpur Technical Committee.

The order issued by Patan High Court termed Shrestha and Khatri ‘absconding offenders&.

Division bench of Judge Shree Kanta Paudel and Tek Prasad Dhungana admonished police and investigators for not producing Khatri and Shrestha before the court the day the chargesheet was filed against them. The bench wondered why the charge-sheet mentioned the minister as son of a minister when Minister Khatri had himself stated in his statement before the detectives that he was a minister. The court also told police to find out if he was son of a minister or a minister himself. The court directed police to produce him before the court within three days if he was a minister.

According to Spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General Sanjeeb Raj Regmi, Khatri does not face automatic suspension. In case a corruption case is filed against a public post holder, s/he faces suspension till his/her case is disposed off.

The ministersecretariat member told THT that Khatri had been consulting his lawyers and he would surrender before the court within a day or two.

Senior Advocate Surendra Bhandari said Khatri faced a moral question after the indictment. It will be morally wrong on Minister Khatripart to appear before the court as a defendant in a criminal case and continue to hold office, he argued. He said the posts of lawmaker and minister required high moral character, hence he should quit both the posts.

Karnali PA member and Advocate Dharma Raj Regmi said Khatritrial would determine whether he would remain a minister or face suspension.

He added that if the court frees Khatri on bail, he would face suspension, but if the court frees him after minor inquiry, he would not face suspension.

Khatri is a contractor and runs KSK Construction in Surkhet. He had provided security bond for the bank guarantee. Contractor Ranvir Tumba and Devjung Shahi have been accused of playing the role of main conspirators who produced fake bank guarantees. Police had arrested Tumba, Shahi and Section Officer of Agriculture Bank, Bhojpur, Chhabi Lal Dhakal.

Despite repeated attempts, Khatri could not be contacted as his phone was switched off.

Khatri was elected to the Karnali Provincial Assembly from Surkhet Constituency No 1 on the erstwhile CPN-UML ticket.

The post Indicted Karnali ministerfate hangs in balance appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Kathmandu, August 14

Chairperson of the National Assembly Ganesh Timilsina today said political parties and the Federation of Nepali Journalists had decided to forge consensus on the disputed Media Council Bill after it drew flak from the media fraternity and stakeholders.

Speaking at an interaction organised in Kathmandu, Timilsina said, &Political parties and FNJ have agreed to move ahead by amending controversial provisions in the bill. We have been holding discussions with the FNJ.&

Vice-chairperson of the Upper House Shashikala Dahal said the National Assembly would hold clause-wise discussions on the bill to ensure that it didn&t contravene the spirit of the constitution, which guarantees full press freedom.

Dinanath Sharma, Nepal Communist Party (NCP) parliamentary party leader at the National Assembly, said the lower house would also provide full autonomy to the media council proposed by the bill through its amendment.

&Process to form the council will be amended and we will move ahead by forging a consensus with FNJ on quantum of punishment,& he said.

The bill registered by the government in the Upper House of the Parliament on May 9 included controversial provisions such as fine up to one million rupees for an erring journalist, which FNJ said was aimed at curtailing media freedom. Section 18 (1) of the new bill stipulated that if any media published contents in contravention of the code of conduct and if an investigation launched after the affected partycomplaint found that such news content damaged reputation of the complainant, then the media council could impose fine between Rs 25,000 and one million rupees on media outlets, publishers, editors, journalists and reporters.

Section 18 (2) of the bill provisioned that the council could order the erring parties to pay compensation if the content in media damaged the reputation of the affected party.

Surendra Pandey, Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader at the National Assembly, urged all to rest assured about press-friendly bill as the ruling party had expressed its commitment to incorporate suggestions of FNJ in the proposed law. NCP Chief Whip Khimlal Bhattarai assured of amending the bill on the basis of suggestions provided by FNJ. NC Chief Whip Sarita Prasai suggested that all political parties should stand united for press freedom.

FNJ President Govinda Acharya stressed the bill and all laws related to media should be in compliance with international democratic norms and values, and spirit of the constitution. He urged the National Assembly to be alert against any ploys to curtail press freedom in the country.

The post NA members pledge to amend Media Council Bill appeared first on The Himalayan Times.