KATHMANDU:- The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an order, seeking a written response from the government over a writ petition filed on election code of conduct. 

A single bench of Justice Shree Kant Paudel ordered both the petitioners and government to appear before the court on March 3 for discussing on whether an interim order could be issued.

Advocates Avas Regmi, Ayush Badal and Akash Dhakal had filed a writ petition on February 26, demanding effective enforcement of election code of conduct for the March 5 election to the House of Representatives. They made defendants to Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in the petition.

The petitioners sought a mandamus order preventing the dissemination of media content in a manner that overrides the right to privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution (Article 27), breaches the Code of Conduct, 2073 BS, and the Election Code of Conduct, 2082 BS, and creates misleading impressions.

A writ of certiorari was also demanded by the advocates to prevent the dissemination of news in violation of the Election Code of Conduct, 2082 BS, in the name of Setopati Online News Portal, one of the defendants in the writ. Prevention of the dissemination and publication of news content capable of suggesting election results in the name of analysis and surveys is demanded by the advocates.(RSS)