Court And Media

CHIEF Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya underlined the need for mutual understanding and good rapport between the court and media in order to protect the fundamental rights of the people as enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal. Addressing a seminar on "Media and Judiciary" organised jointly by Nepal Press Institute and Judicial Council Secretariat, in Kathmandu recently, the Chief Justice said that the role of the court and press is often complementary as both strive for the protection and promotion of the rights of the people and to uphold the rule of law in the country. Judiciary is, no doubt, a custodian of the Constitution and rights of the people incorporated therein whereas the media is the watchdog of the government activities, and advocates for the consolidation of democracy, freedom of the press and empowerment of the people. Judiciary also seeks to protect freedom of expression, which is also main concern of the media. A stronger and more effective judiciary is the interest of the press. Despite the complementary role of the media and the court, sometimes there are confrontations between the two which cannot be considered in the interest of the country and the democracy that is in existence. Some cases of contempt of court were filed in the past and a couple of journalists were punished for such by the court. This is because of the failure to understand that both have a role to play for a common cause. However, both need to understand the problems and limitation of each other. The duty of the media is to point out mistakes and weaknesses of any individuals holding public positions and institutions including the court itself. But this should be guided by the motive of properly informing the people about the performance of the public institutions and suggest measures needed to improve and strengthen the institutions. The court needs to appreciate healthy and constructive criticism. At the same time, the media also has to understand its limit. Since Judiciary is the custodian of the people’s rights including freedom of the press, there should not be any effort of any kind to weaken the court. Everyone, including the media, must realise that people’s rights including the freedom of the press can be protected and guaranteed only when the judiciary is strong and effective. Thus, the role of the media should be to strengthen the judiciary and enhance its image in order to protect press freedom. At the same time, there should be no doubt whatsoever that vibrant and independent media has a crucial role for the maintenance of the rule of law.

Youthful Cricketeers’ Feat

NEPAL, though not a cricketing nation like its neighbours India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, is slowly yet surely making its mark in the cricket world. Nepal’s Under-19 cricket team not only lifted the Asian Youth Cricket Cup by beating the Malaysian team in the finals played at the Kirtipur cricket ground, but also managed to find a berth in the forthcoming Youth World Cup Cricket match to be held in New Zealand in February next year. The win does prove that Nepal has indeed come a long way as far as cricketing is concerned. However, the latest match played in Kirtipur cricket ground was not Nepal’s very first. Rather, Nepal, after being granted associate membership of the International Cricket Council in 1996, had already participated in a number of international cricket tournaments, including senior, under-19 and under-17 age groups’ matches. Though the results were not that heartening, these matches indeed gave the Nepalese cricket players the much-needed exposure and experience to hone their cricketing skills and techniques. The latest win proved that the Nepalese cricket players, this time round, had indeed used their collective experiences, exposure and lessons well.

Just as the saying "One swallow does not a summer make", the mere lifting of the Asian Youth Cricket Cup by the Nepalese Under-19 team this time round should, in no way, be construed as Nepal’s coming of age as a cricketing nation. In fact, Nepal still has many more regional or international cricket matches to play before it is taken seriously by other cricketing nations. Nevertheless, the winning of the Asian Youth Cricket Cup was not a mean feat either. The Nepalese team had to bat or bowl out eight other competing teams. Some of the teams were touted to be quite a match for the Nepalese players because of their long experiences and, needless to point out, considerable resources placed at their disposal by their governments and sporting associations. Yet, the Nepalese team did not let its thousands of cheering fans down. Undoubtedly, the heady sense of euphoria that was generated by the lifting of the Asian Youth Cricket Cup will slowly yet surely fade away. But surely this does not mean that the winning Under-19 cricket players should not prepare themselves for the forthcoming Youth World Cricket Cup to be played in New Zealand.