International Media Network Nepal Pvt Ltd, the publisher of English daily The Himalayan Times, has reached a settlement with former news editor Anuj Arora by implementing a Labour Court verdict ordering payment of outstanding dues.

The management signed an agreement and handed over a cheque for the remaining amount on Friday at the Labour and Employment Office in Teku after mounting pressure following the freezing of The Himalayan Times daily’s bank accounts and share transactions for failing to comply with the court order.

The written agreement was signed in the presence of Labour and Employment Office officials between petitioner Arora and the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Prabha Shankar Srivastav.

As per the agreement, the company paid the remaining amount after deducting the mandatory 15 percent tax at source from the total Rs2,000,555.94 Arora was entitled to receive under the Labour Court verdict. On behalf of the company, Srivastav handed over a cheque worth Rs1,700,472.55 issued by Nepal Investment Bank Limited.

Arora, who had been working at the newspaper since 2003, was appointed news editor on July 17, 2008. He said the company reduced salaries by 50 percent from March 2020 to December 2022, citing the Covid-19 pandemic. The newspaper was launched in 2001.

After not receiving his salary for a prolonged period, Arora moved the court. On December 7, 2025, the Labour Court ruled in his favour and ordered the company to pay more than Rs2 million.

The company, however, delayed implementation of the verdict and moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on enforcement. The court refused to issue the order sought by the company.

A division bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Bal Krishna Dhakal declined to issue an interim order, but the company continued withholding payment, citing the case as sub judice.

After the verdict remained unenforced for more than a year, the Labour and Employment Office, as a final measure, wrote to Nepal Rastra Bank and the Office of the Company Registrar on May 4, directing them to freeze the company’s bank accounts and halt share transactions.

With commercial transactions effectively halted, the company eventually entered into a settlement and paid the outstanding dues to Arora.