The government has decided to appoint journalist Bal Krishna Basnet as the chairman of the Press Council Nepal. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung informed that the cabinet meeting held at the PM's residence in Baluwatar on Thursday evening decided to appoint Basnet as the chairperson for four years.
Basnet, a resident of Dolakha, has experience working in a daily newspaper. Basnet had also given his candidature for the post of General Secretary in the recent election of the Federation of Nepali Journalists.
The council board had appointed Kishor Shrestha as the acting chairman after a dispute arose in the Supreme Court over the appointment of Bhavani Baral as the chairman of the council. However, on 26 Shrawan 2077, the government made a provision in the Press Council (Rules of Procedure) to appoint an Acting Chairperson of the Council.
Another subsequent cabinet meeting decided to appoint Durga Bhandari as acting chairperson. However, the council had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court, saying the government's decision would deprive the council of its autonomy.
Hearing the writ, the apex court had on 3 Bhadra 2077 ordered not to remove the chairperson of the Press Council without implementing the amended rules of the rules. However, after the end of Shrestha's tenure, Gopal Budhathoki has been running as the acting chairman.
