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Koshi Province Chief Minister Uddhav Thapa won a vote of confidence from the provincial Parliament on Monday.

Province Assembly member Israel Mansuri, who presided over the Province Assembly, announced that Thapa won the vote of confidence.

In the 93 Province Assembly, Thapa garnered 47 votes while 30 lawmakers cast their votes against Thapa.

Mansuri said that 77 lawmakers were present in the meeting held on Monday.

The Federation of Nepali Journalists has warned the Civil Aviation Authority to immediately withdraw the clarification sought over the news published in the Annapurna Post national daily.

The FNJ concluded that asking for clarification in an illegal way is objectionable and against the constitutional concept of press freedom, reads a letter signed by FNJ General Secretary Roshan Puri.

The federation has warned the CAAN to withdraw the clarification asked in an illegal way by respecting the constitutionally-guaranteed rights to expression and press freedom.

Objecting to the news published by AMN outlets, including the Annapurna Post national daily, the CAAN on August 18 had sought clarification from Simrik Air Chairman Capt Rameshwar Thapa, who also chairs the Annapurna Media Network (AMN).

ALSO READ: Editorial: CAAN should come clean

The authority has been widely criticized for its move to ask for clarification for the news published in the national daily.

The FNJ said that its serious attention has been drawn over the clarification sought by the CAAN over the news published in the Annapurna Post national daily under the Annapurna Media Network among other media outlets.

“There are prevailing provisions and methods for seeking legal remedies if anyone has grievances or is dissatisfied with the news materials published in the media outlets. The responsibility of the news published in any of the media outlets rests on the shoulder of the editor,” the federation said, adding,” It cannot be justifiable from any point of view to ask clarification from a person by the state body who is not in the editorial team by curtailing the editorial freedom.”

The clarification letter states that AMN has repeatedly disseminated news, analyses, and comments that gravely undermine flight safety. The letter further points out that despite Capt Thapa’s role as the head of an airline company responsible for upholding flight safety, he seems to have misused his publishing rights through his media outlet, engaging in misleading and rumor-spreading activities.

ALSO READ: CAAN move condemnable

The Parliamentary Hearing Committee unanimously endorsed Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha as the Chief Justice.

A meeting of the Committee held in Singha Durbar on Monday made a decision to unanimously endorse the name of Shrestha.

Janata Samajbadi Party lawmaker and Committee member Prakash Adhikari informed that the name of Shrestha has been unanimously endorsed as the Chief Justice.

“The Parliamentary Hearing Committee unanimously endorsed Shrestha as the Chief Justice. Now, the government will make preparations to administer the oath of office and secrecy,” he said.

Shrestha had presented his action plan before the Committee.

Prior to this, the Committee had addressed the complaints it received against the proposed Chief Justice.

As per the constitutional provision, the recommendation for the appointment of Chief Justice shall be made by the Constitutional Council and it requires to be endorsed by the Parliamentary Hearing Committee before the President makes appointment to the post.

Shrestha has been taking charge of the acting Chief Justice since August 5 after erstwhile Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki was retired due to age-limit.

The Constitutional Council on August 3 had nominated the senior-most Judge of the Supreme Court Shrestha (63) as the Chief Justice.  

The Committee on August 9 had sought complaints, if any, against the proposed Chief Justice, and it had received three complaints.  

The complaint was required to be in decent language and supported by evidence.

Born in Doti in 1959, he had joined the government service as the section officer in 1981.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police recorded the statements of former prime minister duo Baburam Bhattarai and Madhav Kumar Nepal in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

The statements of the former prime ministers were recorded at a time there were rumors that the CIB was preparing to submit the investigation report without interrogating Bhattarai and Nepal.

Meanwhile, taking to Facebook, Bhattarai said that he informed the CIB about the truth after various questions were raised regarding the decision taken by his cabinet.

“I have fulfilled my duty by giving truthful information to the CIB as per my public commitment regarding the questions related to the decision taken by his Cabinet in the Lalita Niwas land scam during my tenure,” he said.

He expressed his belief that this case will be a milestone to end all types of corruption and irregularities.

The Bhattarai’s Secretariat said that Bhattarai responded to all the questions against him by calling the CIB officials at his house.

Four years ago, a case was filed against the then prime ministers Madhav Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai in the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

The hearing of the case has not been held yet.

ALSO READ: ApEx Explainer: Everything you need to know about Lalita Niwas scam

During the Madhav Kumar Nepal government, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar of the Nepali Congress served as a Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Deep Basnyat was the secretary at the ministry. It was during their tenure that they decided to fraudulently register plots of land in the names of numerous individuals and fake tenants.

The Nepal Cabinet had made a decision to expand the prime minister’s residence and construct a road within Lalita Niwas by compensating individuals who had illegally occupied the land. This agenda was brought by Gachhadar in the Cabinet. It has been found that the Nepal Cabinet made three different decisions in three separate meetings, providing an opportunity for the accused parties to engage in the scam.

All of the decisions were against the law. Several members in the Nepal Cabinet have stated that Lalita Niwas-related matters were never discussed during meetings, indicating the potential direct involvement of former prime minister Nepal.

The probe committee identifies Shova Kanta Dhakal and Ram Kumar Subedi as key individuals involved in the scam, labeling them as ‘land mafias’. From the early stages of the scam, these individuals have been implicated, as they still hold over 15 ropanis of Lalita Niwas land in their names, even after selling 30 ropanis of land to others.

The proprietor of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, Min Bahadur Gurung, and his family are owners of more than 29 ropanis of Lalita Niwas land. They acquired the land from Dhakal and Subedi. Furthermore, the duo also sold approximately five ropanis of land to former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah.

When Bhattarai was prime minister, his Cabinet decided to transfer around three ropanis of land of Nepal government to ‘Pashupati Tinkinchha Guthi’ but the Trital-led committee had been unable to find about this Guthi. Neither the ministry officials nor the Guthi stakeholders know about the existence of this Guthi, raising suspicion against Bhattarai in the land grab case.