Rs 1 mn fine on Nepal journos for 'damaging reputation', says govt's new bill in Parliament

The Nepal government has come under severe criticism from media groups and the Opposition after it registered in Parliament a bill which, according to experts, seeks to impose a fine of up to Rs 1 million on journalists if they were found guilty of "damaging someone's reputation".

Nepal Media Society (NMS), an umbrella body of publishers and broadcasters, demanded the bill's immediate withdrawal.

The government led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on May 9 registered the Media Council Bill in Parliament for constituting the Nepal Media Council (NMC), which has provisions to impose a fine up to Rs 1 million on media outlets, editors, publishers and journalists if they were found "guilty of damaging someone's reputation".

The Section 18, Sub-section (2) of the bill stipulates that the NMC can order the erring parties to pay compensation if the content in media outlets damages the reputation of the affected party, according to experts.

Section 17 proposes punishment for violating the ...