The Supreme Court has overturned the government’s decision to limit official advertisements to state-owned media outlets, ruling that private media organisations cannot be excluded from receiving government advertisements.

A division bench of justices Sharanga Subedi and Nripa Dhwoj Niroula on Tuesday issued a certiorari order quashing the government decision that barred private media from publishing or broadcasting government advertisements.

On April 1, 2026, the government had decided that official advertisements and public notices would be published or broadcast only through state-owned media outlets. Challenging the decision, advocate Ananta Raj Luitel filed a writ petition on behalf of the Media Society Nepal, arguing that private media also had the right to receive government advertisements.

Justice Subedi said the full text of the ruling had already been prepared and would be made public within two days. The verdict came a week after the final hearing concluded.

Luitel, the authorised petitioner for the Media Society Nepal, said the ruling had restored justice for all media organisations by overturning what he called an unconstitutional government decision.

"Although it took time, the Supreme Court has corrected the government's wrong decision," he said. "This should make the government think repeatedly before taking similar unconstitutional actions in the future."

Luitel had filed the writ petition, and arguments from both sides were presented at the Supreme Court on July 6 and 7.

Senior advocates Shatish Krishna Kharel, Ramesh Badal, Lalit Bahadur Basnet and Dinesh Tripathi, along with advocates Ananta Raj, Bikash Bhattarai, Kirtinath Sharma Poudel, Bishal Thapa, Durwasha Luitel and Ram Prasad Pudasaini, as well as Balkrishna Chapagain and Prem Raj Silwal, argued on behalf of the Media Society Nepal.

Representing the government, Attorney General Narayan Datta Kandel and Deputy Attorney General Uddhav Prasad Pudasaini defended the decision.

During the hearings on July 6 and 7, lawyers representing the Media Society Nepal argued that the government’s move to cut off advertising support long provided to private media was aimed at weakening the sector through financial pressure.

They argued that the Advertisement Act and Regulations recognise proportional distribution of advertisements as a right of media outlets, that the government cannot create a system where some media organisations receive advertisements while others are excluded, and that the executive cannot take away the authority of the Advertisement Board.

They also argued that the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers could not interfere with the advertising authority of provincial and local governments.

The government, however, argued that the decision was aimed at preventing leakages and corruption in the use of public funds allocated for advertisements. Government lawyers said a policy to empower private media would be introduced soon.

The Media Society Nepal, through its authorised advocate Luitel, filed the writ petition on April 7, challenging the government’s decision to exclude private media from receiving government advertisements.

Through a secretary-level decision on April 1, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers had directed all government bodies to publish and broadcast official notices and advertisements only through the Gorkhapatra Corporation, Radio Nepal, Nepal Television and other government-owned media outlets.

The directive applied to all federal, provincial and local government bodies, agencies under them, and all public institutions operating with government funds. The decision was circulated to all relevant offices.