The Kathmandu District Court has issued a ‘news removal’ order based on a petition filed by Cymax Inc. Private Limited, the official distributor of electric vehicles BYD for Nepal, against Business Venture Media Pvt. Ltd. The order was issued by a single bench of Judge Jagat Bahadur Poudel on Friday, Ashad 20, to remove the news published on Business News.com, run by Business Venture Media Pvt. Ltd.

Cymax Inc. had filed a case alleging that Business News.com and journalist Shiva Bohara had engaged in ‘financial bargaining’ (blackmailing). It had filed a petition for an injunction claiming that the company had been trying to tarnish its reputation by circulating misleading news in a series of cases since 2079 BS. ‘Considering the petitioner’s request to stop the published news, until the petition is finally decided, the media material with the mentioned title should not be published or broadcast in the media outlets of the respondent Business Venture Media Pvt. Ltd. and online, and the material that has already been published should not be broadcast further,’ the order states. ‘An interim order has been issued in the name of the respondents in accordance with Rule 34 of the District Court Rules, 2075 BS, to immediately remove it from all their online media.’ The Federation of Nepali Journalists has stated that the court’s order to delete the

news is intended to destroy evidence. A press statement signed by Ram Prasad Dahal, General Secretary of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, states that this is against the journalistic code of conduct. ‘The order to remove news without reaching a conclusion on whether the facts contained in the news are true or false has attacked the essence of independent journalism and has led to the risk of destroying evidence,’ the statement said. ‘Therefore, considering the precedent of the court’s interim orders to remove news published in online media in the past, which were ultimately dismissed, the Federation is confident that the interim order will be amended by the esteemed court and press freedom will be protected.’

Freedom Forum Executive Chief Taranath Dahal also argues that the court’s decision is against the law. ‘If the court finds that any content has insulted someone, it can punish or pay compensation, but it cannot order the removal of content. This is not allowed by any law and there is no provision in our existing law to remove news from archiving,’ Dahal said.

Dahal says that the court’s orders have also raised questions about the legitimacy of the Press Council itself. 'The Press Council is the primary body to check the veracity of any news,' he said. 'The court's direct order to remove the news without the council being able to do its job has raised questions about the legitimacy of the Press Council.'

In its order, the court continued the short-term interim order issued on 25th Jestha and completely banned the opposition media from publishing and broadcasting such misleading content until the final verdict of the case. But Business News Chairman Uttam Kapri says that there was no short-term interim order on 25th. 'There was no short-term interim order on 25th.' A hearing was scheduled for Asad 1 and 3 to discuss the matter between the two sides,' Chairman Kapri told Kantipur, 'But suddenly, without informing us, the order to remove the news came on 5th.'

Business News claims that it has been continuously reporting on the irregularities in BYD's vehicle import and customs procedures based on facts and evidence. Business News has stated that they will approach the higher court for legal redress against the order to remove 66 news items at once.

Yamuna Shrestha, Managing Director of Cymax Inc. Private Limited, the official distributor of BYD for Nepal, said that for the last 4 years, Business News.com has been publishing false and baseless news against her company and her, so she has approached the court for legal redress. ‘In the meantime, we have repeatedly requested the said media outlet to stop publishing false news.’ At our request, the regulatory body Press Council has also repeatedly instructed to stop such activities,' she said, 'Despite this, we are forced to take legal recourse after baseless news against us did not stop.'

She explained the background of the recent (before the budget) entry of vehicles from 5 different companies into Nepal, stating that the government (Ministry of Finance) had investigated the vehicles and clarified that they were not guilty, but that the media outlet was writing baseless news mentioning only the name of its company, and legal remedies were sought.

According to the claims of the petitioner company and the evidence submitted, a representative of the opposing media had sent an email to the company on 2080 Magh 8. The email contained an attractive offer to provide 'positive publicity and reviews' of the company and demanded an advertisement or payment of Rs. 500,000 per month (excluding tax). Although it is common for an established automobile company to receive a positive PR (public relations) offer, Cymex alleges that the offer was used as a 'bargaining tool'. The company claims that the opposing media became more aggressive after the company rejected the offer.

The dispute did not go straight to court. Cymex Inc. had filed a complaint with the Press Council Nepal on 22nd Jestha. Based on the complaint, the council had directed to publish a rebuttal. According to the petition filed by Cymex Inc. in the court, it is mentioned that Business News did not even publish a rebuttal. However, Business News Chairman Capri claims that they published a rebuttal.

Despite repeated requests from the Press Council, Business News filed a complaint on 22nd Jestha against Business Venture Media Pvt. Ltd. and journalist Shiva Bohra working there, alleging that despite repeated requests from the Press Council, Business News wrote a news story against Cymex Inc. ‘We have repeatedly requested the media outlet not to publish false news.’ On our request, the regulatory body, the Press Council, has also repeatedly instructed it to stop such activities,’ said Shrestha, Managing Director of Cymex Inc., ‘Despite this, we are forced to take legal action after they did not stop publishing baseless news against us.’

Previous precedents

This is not the first order issued by the court to remove the news. Earlier, the Kathmandu District Court had also ordered the removal of the news. On 27 Jestha 2082, a bench of Justice Pitambar Sharma had ordered the removal of the news while hearing a ‘prohibition’ petition filed by Securities Board Chairman Santosh Narayan Shrestha against Nepalkhabar.com and Bijmandu.com. ‘In view of the irreparable damage that may be caused to the petitioner by publishing news under different titles and publishing news in a defamatory manner, including the news published on various dates attached to the petition, and the balance of convenience, a short-term interim order has been issued in the name of the respondents in accordance with Rule 34(1) of the District Court Rules, 2075 BS, directing them not to publish unverified, factual news on their websites, online or other means and to immediately remove the published news from online,’ the court order said.

However, the court later corrected the order. A single bench of District Judge Shyam Bihari Maurya had ordered the dismissal of the writ petition on 2082 BS after a two-day hearing.

According to Dahal of Freedom Forum, such steps by the court threaten to erode press freedom and weaken investigative journalism.

'If the court continues to be proactive in deciding which news to keep and which to remove, investigative journalism will not be possible in Nepal,' Dahal said. 'It is a matter of concern that the court is becoming harsh and negative towards the press.'