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On 2nd stay order, FNJ withdraws stir

KATHMANDU, FEB 01 -
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued another interim order directing the government not to implement its decision on information classification. Citing the constitutional gravity of the case, the court has referred the writ to the

special bench.

The order issued by a single bench of Justice Prem Sharma was in response to a writ filed by Ram Krishna Timilsina, a former registrar of the Supreme Court. In the writ, the petitioner had argued that the government’s chief secretary-led committee bypassed some of the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2007 while classifying information.

Though the Act allows the government to keep secret only five types of information relating to national sovereignty and security, the new information classification was prepared by manipulating Clause 27 of the Act overriding most of the earlier provisions of RTI, the petitioner had argued. On Tuesday, a single bench of Justice Baidhyanath Upadhyay had issued a stay order to the government responding to a public interest litigation filed by the Democratic Lawyers’ Association. The association had also challenged the government decision as unlawful and unconstitutional.

 Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has withdrawn its protest programme after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai directed Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire to send a letter to the concerned authority to withhold the government’s directive of categorising 140 types of information as confidential. The PM has assured that the directive will be revised with suggestions from senior journalists, legal experts, and RTI activists. Similarly, an expert group comprising representatives from various sectors will be formed while categorising information.

Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, FNJ General Secretary Om Sharma said the FNJ has decided to cancel its demonstration programmes following the PM’s assurance on Tuesday to revise the directive. “The withdrawal of protests does not mean we have won the battle, all the media persons should remain alert in the coming days,” Sharma said in his statement.

The SC interim order comes as a relief for the agitating journalists, the statement read. The writ had termed the government decision as an “irreparable loss” for the press and the RTI movement.

Journalists had demonstrated at Babarmahal to press the government to take back its directive on Tuesday.

Earlier, the law experts, RTI activists and senior journalists had termed the classification as a “polite version of the royal ordinance” that curtailed right to information.

Journalists protest nationwide

Meanwhile, journalists staged demonstrations in various districts in protest of the government’s recent directive to classify 140 types of information as confidential.

As per the decision of the FNJ central committee, media persons took out protest rallies and staged sit-ins in front of the District Administration Offices (DAOs) in various districts, demanding immediate withdrawal of the decision.

In Dang, the journalists took out a rally in Ghorahi that later converged into a protest meet at Bhanu Chowk. They also burnt the document of the government’s directive.

Similar protest was organised in Banke district where journalists took out a rally that later converged into a protest meeting in front of the DAO. The agitating media persons sent black bands to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai through the chief district officer. Rights activists, law practitioners, businesspeople and the local people also expressed their solidarity with the journalists’ protest.

The journalists launched protests in Nawalparasi, Kavre, Nuwakot, Gorkha and Jhapa districts as well against the government move. 

Posted on: 2012-02-02 07:20

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