Kathmandu: The Supreme Court of Nepal has sentenced journalists Nabin Dhungana and Yubraj Kandel to three months of imprisonment in a contempt of court case related to the publication of a fake audio clip on the online news portal sidhakura.com. The audio falsely implicated Supreme Court judges in a deal over a case.

A full bench, led by Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and comprising Justices Prakashman Singh Raut, Sapana Pradhan Malla, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Hari Prasad Phunyal, Dr. Nahakul Subedi, Binod Sharma, Mahesh Sharma Paudel, and Balkrishna Dhakal, ruled that the journalists' actions were a serious breach of public trust and a clear act of contempt against the judiciary.

The court stated that the audio content, published without proper verification, spread misinformation about the judicial system. While the court acknowledged the journalists' role in creating distrust, it offered a potential reprieve. If Dhungana and Kandel confess to their actions in court and pledge not to repeat such offenses, their sentences could be reduced to one week of imprisonment.

The audio clip, provided by Raj Kumar Timilsina, falsely accused Supreme Court judges of involvement in a corrupt deal. Timilsina has been sentenced to six months in jail for his role in the incident.

The court emphasized that the incident was not a mere oversight but a deliberate attempt to malign the judiciary, with repeated dissemination of the false information further compounding the offense.