Kathmandu: The Press Council Nepal has urged the Gandaki Province government to withdraw the bill designed to manage mass media which is present before the Province Assembly. Council urged for the withdrawal, arguing that some of the provisions in the bill were detrimental to freedom of press and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
Issuing a press release on Thursday, Press Council Nepal further said even its jurisdiction was breached. The bill has mocked at the spirit of independent journalism, it added.
The disputable provisions as anyone against whom the news is made could take action against the news reporter; strictness in the registration of printing and publication, imprisonment and fine for violation of code of conduct were egregiously against free press and journalists’ rights, the Council concluded.