Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane has filed a defamation case against Kantipur Publications Limited.
Lamichhane’s legal representative advocate Aftab Alam registered the defamation case against Kantipur at the Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday, the court’s information officer Chandra Prasad Panthi said.
According to Panthi, Lamichhane has demanded punishment against Kantipur Publications under Sections 305 and 307 the National Penal Code, 2017, claiming that it had committed slander and libel against him according to Sections 305 and 305 of the Penal Code. He has also sought a symbolic compensation of Rs 151.
According to Section 305 (3) of the Penal Code, a person who commits, or causes to be committed, slander against another person shall be liable to a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 10,000 rupees or both the sentences.
Similarly, a person who commits, or causes to be committed, libel shall be liable to a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding 20,000 rupees or both the sentences under Section 307 (1).
“If libel is committed or, caused to be committed, by means of electronic or other means of mass communication, there shall be imposed an additional sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 10,000 rupees in addition to such punishment,” Section 307 (1) adds.
Also, a person convicted of libeling another person or causing such libel, shall be ordered to pay a reasonable compensation and litigation costs to the libeled person under Section 307 (2) depending upon the gravity of the offense, effect caused to the reputation of the libeled person and the commission of libel by means of electronic or other means of mass communication.
Lamichhane has named Kantipur Publications and its Chairman Kailash Sirohiya, Managing Director Sambhav Sirohiya, Kantipur daily and its Editor-in-Chief Umesh Chauhan and ekantipur.com as defendants in the case.
Kantipur had recently published news that Galaxy 4K Television Chairman GB Rai had absconded after embezzling depositors’ money from cooperatives in Pokhara, Chitwan, Butwal and other places. It had reported that Lamichhane was also involved in it. Lamichhane had been protesting against it through his Facebook posts.
After filing the case, Lamichhane wrote on Facebook that he sought legal remedy as he had been defamed.
He also mentioned that he was not a promoter, shareholder, depositor, member, investor or account holder of any cooperatives named in the news reports.
