Kathmandu, July 14: The Supreme Court has overturned a government decision that prohibited the placement of government-funded advertisements in private media outlets, ruling the directive unlawful.
A joint bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Nripadhwaj Niraula annulled the government directive issued on April 1, 2026 (Chaitra 18, 2082), which had barred private media organizations from receiving government advertisements.
During the hearings, lawyers representing private media argued that the directive was an attempt to financially weaken and undermine independent media organizations. They contended that, under Nepal’s advertising laws, government advertisements must be distributed fairly and transparently among eligible media outlets.
The petitioners further argued that the government cannot legally discriminate between state-owned and privately owned media by allocating advertisements exclusively to government-run media organizations.
The case was filed by the Nepal Media Society, which challenged the government’s decision before the Supreme Court.
Welcoming the verdict, the Society’s legal counsel, Advocate Anantraj Luitel, described the ruling as a significant victory for press freedom and the private media sector, stating that justice had been served.
With the Supreme Court’s decision, private media outlets will once again be eligible to receive and publish government-funded advertisements under the principle of equal and non-discriminatory distribution. #nepal
