The Supreme Court has handed down jail sentences to those involved in a contempt of court case related to the broadcasting and publication of content on the online platform Sidha Kura under the title “Dark File”. The content, which allegedly defamed individuals through the use of fake audio clips, was deemed a serious violation of judicial integrity.

Hearing on the petition filed by Govinda Prasad Ghimire, deputy registrar of the court, a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court ruled that Rajkumar Timilsina, who created the fake audio, will serve six months in jail. Additionally, the news portal's publisher Yubaraj Kandel, and executive editor Nabin Dhungana were sentenced to three months each.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs5,000 on the Sidha Kura platform. However, this fine can be waived if the platform issues a formal apology. Furthermore, Kandel and Dhungana’s sentences could be reduced to seven days if they submit a written apology for the published content. Timilsina, however, is required to serve the full sentence.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha and Justices Prakash Man Singh Raut, Sapana Pradhan Malla, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Hari Prasad Phuyal, Nahakul Subedi, Binod Sharma, Mahesh Sharma Poudel, and Balkrishna Dhakal, delivered the verdict after examining the case.

Sidha Kura had published misleading information regarding Supreme Court justices, media operators, and legal professionals, which allegedly affected the integrity of judicial proceedings. Deputy Registrar Ghimire had filed a contempt of court petition against Sidha Kura, accusing them of tarnishing the court's image.

Following an investigation, police confirmed that the audio clips published by Sidha Kura were fabricated and false. Consequently, the District Government Attorney's Office had filed charges against Timalsina, Kandel, and Dhungana for cybercrime and other related offences. Although the District Court of Kathmandu had previously released the trio on bail, they are now required to serve their sentences as per the Supreme Court's latest ruling.

On April 27, an audiovisual content, claiming that the chairpersons of two leading media houses—Kantipur Publications Limited and Annapurna Media Network—were part of a meeting with an incumbent and former Supreme Court justices and senior advocates to dismiss over 400 corruption cases in the court, was aired on sidhakura.com.

A division bench of Supreme Court justices Nahakul Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana, on April 29, rubbished the legitimacy of the published material, concluding that it was a malicious attempt to defame the judiciary, obstruct the judicial proceedings and scandalise the court.

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police was then asked to carry out forensic tests to check the authenticity of the audio-visual material. The police investigation team later confirmed that it was fabricated.

The case was then forwarded to the Supreme Court’s extended full bench for a final hearing, stressing the need for a comprehensive judicial interpretation of freedom of expression and press freedom.

The police moved the district court per the top court’s order that asked the security agency to investigate the factual and technical aspects of the audio-visual materials (forensic test) and to proceed with legal action and submit a report to the court if it is found that the prevailing criminal law has been violated.