The contempt of court case against Kantipur Publications has been referred to a five-member full bench of Supreme Court (SC).

After hearing the statements from Kantipur members on Tuesday, a division bench of Justices Bam Kumar Shrestha and Damber Bahadur Shahi decided to send the case to a full bench considering the gravity of the case.

Prior to issuing the order today, the bench recorded the statement of Chairman and Managing Director Kailash Sirohiya, Kantipur daily Editor-in-Chief Sudheer Sharma, journalist Krishna Gyawali. The court had heard the statement from Director Swastika Sirohiya on Sunday.

Kantipur members, in their written statements furnished before the bench, asserted that the Kantipur has respect for the court and the news about Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli published in the daily had not dishonoured the court.

A contempt of court case was lodged against Kantipur Publications after Kantipur daily published news reports highlighting discrepancies in birth date and academic qualification of CJ Parajuli. But a single bench of CJ Parajuli on Sunday (February 25) had issued an order directing Kantipur members to appear in person before the court and record their statements. CJ Parajuli’s move contravenes the principles of natural justice. In the written reply, Kantipur has stated that CJ Parajuli is guilty of contempt by abusing his authority.

The SC bench on Tuesday questioned Chairman and MD Sirohiya and Kantipur Chief Editor Sharma for nearly two-and-a-half-hour and journalist Gyawali for nearly two hours.

“According to general legal practice of law, a court bench can’t issue an order of obligatory or prohibitive nature to a party that has not been made defendant in a case. However, in this writ, a unilateral hearing seems to have issued an obligatory order to Press Council which is not a defendant,” reads statement presented by Kantipur before the court.  “The interim order and issues are related to Chief Justice himself. The nature of the order gives a sense that the CJ is attempting to resolve his personal controversy. This whole episode has made us feel that Chief Justice himself has disrespected the court and abused his authority. The news we have published for public information by substantiating it with proof can’t be a contempt of court.”

The SC on Wednesday had issued a subpoena to Kantipur in the contempt of court case, ordering four Kantipur members to appear at the court in person within 72 hours of receiving the summon.

In an interim order on February 25, CJ Parajuli had directed the Press Council Nepal to probe the news reports published by Kantipur that questioned inconsistencies in his birth date as shown by his official documents.

National and international journalists’ bodies have condemned CJ Parajuli’s move calling it a clear case of ‘prior censorship’ and against the principle of natural justice which demands that the chief justice stay away from the case involving himself.