After the amount due to employees was not paid as per the court's decision, the Labor and Employment Office has sent separate letters to the National Bank and the Office of the Registrar of Companies, directing them to freeze all transactions.
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The bank account and share transactions of the Himalayan Times daily have been frozen after the Labor Court's decision was not implemented. The bank account and share transactions of the Himalayan Times' management company, International Media Network Nepal Pvt. Ltd., have been frozen after the company failed to pay the amount due to the employees as per the court's decision.
The Labor and Employment Office has written to Nepal Rastra Bank and the Company Registrar's Office separately, directing them to freeze the company's bank account and all transactions, including the purchase, sale and transfer of shares.
According to Uday Kumar Gupta, Chief of the Labor and Employment Office, the Labor Court had ruled in favor of Arora on November 21, 2082 in the case between the petitioner Anuj Arora and the defendant International Media Network. The Labor Office took this step as per Sub-section (2) of Section 167 of the Labor Act 2074 BS after the company failed to pay the amount as per the decision despite repeated correspondence by the office.
'We have taken this process forward on the basis of the petition filed by the petitioner stating that the court's decision has not been implemented,' Office Chief Gupta told Kantipur, 'This process had been going on for more than a year, and finally, after the decision was not implemented, we have written to the Nepal Rastra Bank to freeze the bank accounts and shares.'
The office wrote a letter to the Bank and Financial Institutions Regulation Department of Nepal Rastra Bank on 21 Baisakh 2083, requesting it to freeze the accounts of banks and financial institutions across the country in the name of International Media Network Nepal Pvt. Ltd.
Arora was not the only one who did not receive his salary during the Covid pandemic. Most of the people working there have not received their salaries yet. Similarly, in a letter sent to the Company Registrar's Office, it has been asked to freeze the purchase, sale, transfer or any other type of commercial transaction in the name of the media house until the decision is implemented.
Himalayan Times, established in 2058 (2001) under International Media Network Pvt. Ltd., has been presenting itself as Nepal's best-selling English daily. Arora had been associated with this daily since 2003.
Five years later, he was appointed as the news editor on 2065 Shrawan 2 (17 July 2008). At that time, his salary was fixed at 91 thousand per month. Later, the salary was increased to 176 thousand 13 rupees 62 paisa on 28 Falgun 2075 (12 March 2019). Arora said that before the salary increase was completed, the company had cut it by 50 percent from 2076 Chaitra to 2079 Mangsir, citing the cause of Covid-19.
'The establishment had paid my salary only partially from 2076 Chaitra to 2079 Mangsir.' However, no salary was paid for the month of Kartik 2079. After that, no salary was paid for 2 months and 14 days from Paush 2079,' the application submitted to the labor office states.
He was not the only one who did not receive salary during the Covid pandemic. Most of the workers there have not received their salary yet. 'I have not resigned yet, they have not fired me, but I have stopped working since Bhadra 2081 after not receiving salary,' a journalist from Himalayan Times said. 'After Covid, they did not pay salary for 12 to 15 months and then suddenly started paying only one month. It was not possible to work regularly without salary by sitting at the desk until late at night.'
Another journalist currently working there also said that he has not received his salary since Covid. According to him, the salary has been delayed for 26 months since Covid. 'We have not received our salary for 26-27 months. Some may have even more. Those who can complain, they will give us two or three months at once, we do not know how much each of them has received,' the journalist said. 'They started giving it every month since last Dashain, the last time they gave it after about a month and a half.'
After not receiving his salary on time, Arora wrote a message to the newspaper's editorial advisor Joseph Nathan on the social media WhatsApp at 6:39 pm on Falgun 15, 2079, saying, 'Boss, I can't work till you pay and I owe you NRP 20 lakh' (I can't work until you pay me. And you owe me Rs 20 lakh).
On 21 Mangsir 2082 The Labor Court ordered the company to pay Arora 20 lakh 555 rupees. After not receiving the amount for a long time, he filed a new application for the execution of the judgment and freezing of his assets on 8 Magh 2082. After receiving no response for six months after writing this message, Arora sent a formal letter to the company on Bhadra 17, 2080, demanding Rs 26,51,146 along with interest and compensation. But the company did not respond. 'The company's head of accounts, Prabha Shankar, called me on September 27, 2023, i.e. Asoj 10, 2080, at 10:24 am and requested me to wait for at least two more months,' Arora said.
After being delayed for a long time without paying his wages, he decided to fight the legal battle. On 10 Asoj 2080 at 1:53 pm, he informed the company through an email that he was going to start legal proceedings. But when the company did not respond, he filed a complaint with the Labor and Employment Office on 13 Kartik 2080.
After the complaint, the Labor and Employment Office ruled in Arora's favor on 5 Asar 2081. However, the company continued to delay the implementation. On 21 Mangsir 2082, the Labor Court ordered the company to pay Arora 20 lakh 555 rupees. After not receiving the money for a long time after the verdict, he filed a fresh application for the execution of the verdict and freezing of his assets on 2082 Magh 8.
The company had approached the Supreme Court on 2082 Chaitra 8 with a demand to stop the execution of the verdict, but the Supreme Court refused to issue an interim order. The judgment of the bench of Supreme Court Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Balkrishna Dhakal stated, 'Given the nature of the work of the petitioner and the fact that the petitioner has been working continuously in the institution since 2003, the petitioner is not in 'consultancy' employment in the institution and is in regular employment as per Section 10(1)(a) of the Labor Act, 2074.'
Even after the Supreme Court cleared the way, the company filed an application with the Labor Office on 2083 Baisakh 11, citing 'the matter is under consideration'.
When we contacted the company's Managing Director Rabin Lama to find out about this, he said that he could not say anything as the matter is under consideration in the Supreme Court. "This case is currently pending in the Supreme Court and the company will take action according to the final decision of the Supreme Court," he told Kantipur.
"It seems that the Supreme Court's order has already been issued, but why are you delaying the implementation of the law by saying that it is pending?" he did not respond to Kantipur's question.
