The latest episode of the television show 'Comedy Darbar' has seen a 'censorship controversy'. The issue has heated up social media after 'beeps' were added to some of the dialogues broadcast in the episode, which featured Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs Rajunath Pandey, Jagdish Kharel and Rukesh Ranjit as guests.

The artist duo Saroj Bhandari and Sujan Zimba enter the stage at 31 minutes and 22 seconds of the series, which was released on the YouTube channel 'OSR Reality' last Friday. Bhandari played the role of 'Speaker' and Zimba played the role of 'Maryada Palak'. In their segment, which lasted a total of 4 minutes and 53 seconds, 'beep sound' was used to cover the dialogue 11 times.

According to senior comedian and judge of the same show, Manoj Gajurel, the word 'Speaker' used in the performance was mainly censored by adding 'beeps' continuously. In a conversation with Kantipur, Gajurel expressed surprise and said, ‘We did not utter any vulgar, obscene or illegal words that should have been banned. The content presented on the television screen has its own dignity and we are aware of it. However, surprisingly, wherever the Speaker is mentioned, there is a ban on the voice.’

program director and host Vicky Agarwal has expressed his regret over the interference in the creation. He wrote on Facebook, ‘It is very painful when someone so easily cuts into the content that we have prepared through continuous practice every week, intensive writing and hard work of the artists. Is it okay in Nepal to make television programs just like movies that make people cry?’  Prime Television CEO Som Dhital said that a complaint was filed with the Press Council Nepal after the trailer of the

program was released and a warning was issued based on that. ‘After the trailer was released on social media, the Press Council had given us a verbal warning after seeing our TV logo. Fearing that an official letter would be received or there would be further trouble, I called director Vickyji and Shraddha Prasai. As per their advice, the words were broken and broadcast to avoid controversy,' he said. 

Press Council Chief Officer Jhabindra Bhusal said that Prime TV was only alerted after a complaint was received from an officer of the Federal Parliament Secretariat. According to Bhusal, the Prime TV logo was seen in the trailer and the council had alerted it as a precaution to avoid any legal complications or further problems related to defamation of Parliament tomorrow. Advocate Khagendra Chapagain had filed a complaint with the council last Friday, expressing serious objections to the acting and words used in the caricatures in the program.

Although the council had alerted the television, Bhusal claimed that it had not 'pre-censored' any of the content. "We have not given any instructions to cut or remove any content, we have only informed about the complaint," Bhusal told Kantipur. "The actions taken by the television or production side to mute some parts or correct the logo were done out of their own awareness or to avoid potential embarrassment. There is no direct involvement or pressure from the Press Council in this."

However, despite the council saying that it had not given any instructions to use 'beep' in the content, Prime Television sources claim that the program director Vicky was summoned to the office for questioning. However, Chief Officer Bhusal insists that the council did not summon anyone for questioning except to alert the television.