Komal Oli, a member of the National Assembly, filed a defamation case against Raghuji Pant, her fellow party member, at the Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday morning.

According to Oli, the case was filed as per Section 305, 306 and 307 of the Penal Code-2017.

On February 28 Pant had made vitriolic comments against Oli while addressing a party programme.

While Pant belongs to the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction of the CPN-UML, Oli belongs to the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led faction and is a popular face in the Nepali music industry.

“The reason Oli has become a lawmaker and a Central Committee member is just because of singing the song ‘Poila Jana Pam’ (or ‘May I Get To Elope’) moving her saree up and showing her legs,” Pant had said at the programme.

Pant made these invective comments while talking about how Oli was hand picked to be a parliamentarian ahead of other deserving women leaders from the party who have been serving for decades.

He said that the position Komal Oli holds is because of such activities.

Pant’s comment had not gone down well with Oli.

“Imagine where our society is heading when women are still targeted with such abusive attacks from a person who himself is a responsible leader of a political party. He was only endorsing a misogynistic attitude that prevails in Nepali society,” Oli had told the Post last week after the incident. “People tend to think that the attack was only on Komal Oli, but remember this is an attack on all the women of the country and it will be repeated if the male-dominated society is not willing to accept that women can be leaders too.”

Though Pant had apologised to Oli after receiving massive criticism from women’s rights activists and the members of the general public for his statement, Oli had threatened to take this issue to the court

The Section 305 of the Penal Code-2017 is related to prohibition of committing slander and, sub-section (1) states that no person shall slander another person.

“A person who uses degrading words, spoken or said, with the intention of lowering the reputation of another person shall be deemed to commit slander,” sub-section (2) of Section 305 says defining slander.

Similarly, according to Sub-section (3), a person who commits, or causes to be committed, the offence referred to in sub-section (1) shall be liable to a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding ten thousand rupees or both the sentences.

Similarly, Section 306 is related to prohibition of committing libel. Sub-section (1) of Section 306 states that no person shall defame another person.

Likewise, Section 307 mentions punishment for libel.

According to sub Section(1) of Section 307, “A person who commits, or causes to commit, libel shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding Rs20,000 rupees or both.”

Oli has claimed that Pant committed libel by means of electronic or other means of mass communication and has demanded an additional sentence of up to one year in prison and Rs10,000 for him although the Penal Code-2017 says that a person committing such libel should only face either prison sentence of up to one year or fine not exceeding Rs10,000.