Nepal's Supreme Court has summoned the country's largest media house, Kantipur Publication, to appear before the court on contempt of court charges, officials said Wednesday.
The apex court has said that some of the newspapers published in Nepali vernacular by Kantipur Publication are against the dignity of court, and has ordered the media house to appear before the court on Thursday, Xinhua reported.
But the media house has claimed that press should be allowed to write news about the track records of judges and other malpractices.
The court Aug 26 ordered members of Kantipur Publications management and editorial staff to have their statement recorded as to why they should not be convicted for contempt of court. In its statement, the court said the publication tried to harm the prestige of judiciary, which was a contemptuous act.
Chairman and managing director of the publication Kailash Sirohiya, director Swastika Sirohiya, editor-in-chief Sudheer Sharma and reporter Ghana Shyam Khadka appeared in court Wednesday in accordance to a court order.
Kantipur Publication is Nepal's largest media houses with seven media outlets, including radio, television, newspaper, web edition and magazine. According to the court order, publication should make it clear that news reports have not committed contempt of court.