HIGH COURT ORDERS WOMEN’S COMMISSION NOT TO TARNISH KSL’S REPUTATION WITH FALSE ALLEGATIONS

Nepal Muhar

The Patan High Court has issued an interim order to the National Women’s Commission (NWC), which has been used as a tool by vested interest groups to spread rumors against Kathmandu School of Law (KSL). The order states, "Do not disseminate or cause to be disseminated any information or details that could negatively impact the personal reputation of individuals associated with the institution (KSL) or the institutional credibility of KSL."

A bench of Justice Shyam Kumar Bhattarai at the Patan High Court issued this interim order on Friday, 20 Asar. The NWC, without understanding ground realities, had succumbed to the influence of a planned smear campaign (Google Trial) by vested interest groups and issued a statement against KSL without an official letterhead on 5 Chaitra 2081.

Following this, the NWC made strenuous efforts to collect evidence to investigate the biased allegations made by these groups. For this purpose, it summoned individuals who had accused KSL, including student Sandhya Gautam, who had labeled her own grandfather as a rapist while hurling abuses at her father, as well as those who signed under the name "KSL Accountability." The commission also invited complaints through its hotline and email. However, not a single person came forward with a genuine complaint or revealed their true identity as an actual victim.

Another student, who had claimed to be a victim, appeared before the commission and stated, "I am not a victim myself; I was speaking on behalf of others." But she could not specify who those "others" were. Subsequently, the NWC was forced to withdraw from the investigation.

However, as soon as KSL announced new admissions, fresh conspiratorial maneuvers were launched against this prestigious institution of legal education, according to KSL administration. On 11 Asar 2082, an English daily, citing the NWC, revived a four-month-old stale issue with the headline, "National Women’s Commission to Investigate Sexual Abuse Allegations at KSL," spreading fake (misleading) news. KSL administration concluded that this was a calculated conspiracy to influence new admissions, with the newspaper, the reporter, and the Women’s Commission being used as tools by vested interest groups.

Without understanding the facts of the incident, denying the accused a chance to clarify, and acting with malicious intent—issuing statements without a letterhead, forcefully calling for complaints, and continuing to spread misleading news even after Shyam retracted her victimhood claim—KSL knocked on the court's door. Recognizing the NWC’s malicious intent, the Patan High Court issued an interim order: "Do not disseminate or cause to be disseminated any information or details that could negatively impact the personal reputation of individuals associated with the institution (KSL) or the institutional credibility of KSL." The court has summoned both parties for discussion on 27 Asar.