The Patan High Court has issued an interim order against arrest of senior journalist Dil Bhusan Pathak, who is under investigation in connection with a video published on his Youtube channel Tough Talk.

A division bench of judges Tanka Prasad Gurung and Tikaram Acharya issued the interim order upholding the court’s interlocutory order.

Earlier, the single bench of Judge Rishi Raj Bhandari had issued the interlocutory interim order on Monday, instructing Nepal Police not to detain Pathak until further notice.

The court reaffirmed the order on Thursday, stating that no grounds were found to justify the need for immediate arrest based on the complaint submitted.

“In the absence of sufficient basis that an offence has been committed warranting arrest, the petitioner shall not be arrested until the case is concluded,” the court order reads.

Pathak had filed a petition at the Patan High Court after Nepal Police’s Cyber Bureau secured an arrest warrant from the Kathmandu District Court.

The bureau acted on a complaint filed by Jaiveer Singh Deuba, son of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba.

The complaint relates to a video titled “Jaiveer Deuba’s Money in Hilton!”, where Pathak raised questions about Jaiveer’s alleged involvement in share transactions linked to the Hilton Kathmandu.

In the meantime, despite the interlocutory order of the court, the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police wrote to Pathak on Tuesday urging him to present himself before the bureau or any nearest police office claiming the video violated provisions of the Electronic Transactions Act.

Pathak, through his legal counsel, argued that the warrant was issued without sufficient legal basis and requested the court to stop police action.

The interim order remains in effect until the final verdict of the case.