(FNJ/IFEX) – On 20 November 2006, the Labor Court ordered a news group to reinstate a journalist who was forced into retirement, allegedly for disobeying the management’s order to disseminate certain news. Jamim Shah, managing director of Space Times Network (STN), and Bahadur Krishna Tamrakar, president of STN, have agreed to reinstate Pradeep Ghimire, general […]
(FNJ/IFEX) – On 20 November 2006, the Labor Court ordered a news group to reinstate a journalist who was forced into retirement, allegedly for disobeying the management’s order to disseminate certain news.
Jamim Shah, managing director of Space Times Network (STN), and Bahadur Krishna Tamrakar, president of STN, have agreed to reinstate Pradeep Ghimire, general secretary of Freedom Forum and the former senior sub-editor of Space Times Publications, a member of STN.
In 2001, Ghimire was forced to retire with no reason given, which led the FNJ to believe that it was due to political pressure from the royal government after he refused to publish the news that the management wanted. He then filed a case with the Labor Court against Shah and Tamrakar. In 2003, the court pronounced its verdict that the management’s action was illegal and that Ghimire should be immediately re-instated with a permanent appointment in the network. The court also ordered the news group to pay Ghimire his salary, backdated from the time of his forced retirement.
When STN ignored the court order, Ghimire submitted another application to the Labor Court, this time for “contempt of court”. In the beginning, the accused repeatedly refused to present themselves to the court. However, on 20 November, they appeared in court to give their statement agreeing to comply with the court’s judgement following a consultation with Ghimire. They have also agreed to notify the court about further developments. The court has further ordered them to return after seven days.