The Supreme Court has denied Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Mayor Balen Shah permission to appoint an attorney to represent him in the contempt of court case filed against him.
Shah had filed an application on Sunday seeking permission to appoint an attorney in the case. Hearing the application on Tuesday, a joint bench of Justices Ishwar Khatiwada and Hari Phuyal denied Shah permission to appoint an attorney.
An attorney is a person who has the legal right to represent someone else in a case filed against them in court.
According to SC spokesperson Bimal Paudel, Shah will now have to attend court hearings in the case himself following the bench's decision.
Shah had announced a ban on screening of Hindi movies from June 19 until the dialog “Janaki is the daughter of Bharat” was removed from the movie “Adipurush”.
Nepal Motion Picture Association, an umbrella organization of cinema hall operators, had filed a petition at the Patan High Court on June 21 against the KMC's decision to ban screening of Hindi movies.
Mayor Shah, City Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology had been made defendants in the petition.
The Patan High Court had issued an interim order against the KMC’s decision on June 22, paving the way for screening of Hindi movies inside the KMC.
Writing on social media the same day, Shah had called the federal government and the court Indian slaves. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the court’s order to allow screening of Hindi movies, Shah had said that he would not comply with the law and the court’s order.
“I am not going to comply with any law and court as far as the country’s sovereignty and independence is concerned. Their intent becomes clear when film’s writer says Nepal was under India. That the Government of Nepal called this thing a stunt, and the court instructing to allow screening of film means Nepal was under India, and the court and the government are Indian slaves. I am ready to face any punishment for that but the film will not be screened or allowed to be screened,” Shah had posted on Facebook.
Advocate Barsha Kumari Jha had then filed a contempt of court application against Shah at the Supreme Court on June 25. Responding to the application, the court had sought a written response from Shah explaining why he should not face action for contempt of court.
Shah had then presented his written response in the court, stating that he cannot face action for contempt of court as he has not defied the court’s order or verdict.
