Patan High Court issues interim order against CAAN’s decision to seek clarification from Thapa

KATHMANDU, August 29: The High Court of Patan has ruled that taking action against Simrik Air on the basis of news reports is illegal.

Based on the fact that Captain Rameshwar Thapa, the president of Simrik Air, is also the president of Annapurna Post daily, the court held that the explanation and action requested by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is illegal.

A single bench of Justice Ramesh Dhakal issued an interim order not to implement the decision made by the Authority and its Director General as it was deemed to be an unfair interference with the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal.

CAAN had sought clarification from Thapa on August 17, stating that the news, analysis, and comments of a nature seriously affect flight safety.

While hearing the writ petition filed by Simrik Air Pvt. Ltd. against the authority and director general Pradeep Adhikari, the court issued an interim order in the name of the authority and the director general until the writ petition is decided whether to implement the decision of August 17 and the correspondence made by the authority on August 18.