Supreme Court hearing on government advertisement ban postponed

Kathmandu. The hearing on the petition filed against the government's decision to withhold government advertisements from private media could not take place today at the Supreme Court. Although the case was listed before the bench of Justices Til Prasad Shrestha and Tek Prasad Dhungana, it could not be heard due to a lack of time. The case was listed at number 22.

The Supreme Court has summoned the government for a bilateral hearing regarding whether government advertisements should be provided to private media. Previously, following the hearing on Chaitra 24, a single bench of Supreme Court Justice Meghraj Pokharel had summoned the government to discuss whether or not to issue an interim order regarding the legal basis of the decision.

Advocate Ananta Raj Luintel, authorized by the Nepal Media Society, filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on Chaitra 23, challenging the ban on advertisements in private media. The Nepal Media Society, an organization representing publishers of major media outlets including national dailies, challenged the government's decision in the Supreme Court through Advocate Luintel.

Following a secretary-level decision on Chaitra 18, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers had issued a circular to all government bodies, including federal, provincial, and local levels, as well as public entities using public funds, mandating that all government advertisements and notices be published or broadcast exclusively through state-owned media such as Gorkhapatra Corporation, Radio Nepal, and Nepal Television.