Kathmandu: Nepali Congress Demands Parliamentary Probe Into Journalist Arrests, Seeks Release of Withheld Reports

Nepal's main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, decided at a meeting of its parliamentary party at Singha Durbar on Monday to demand a special parliamentary committee to investigate alleged government excesses, including last week's arrest of journalists inside newsrooms — arrests the party alleges were made without a clear legal basis, warrant or court authorisation. The party also accused the government of withholding a series of investigation reports and demanded their publication. The allegations are the opposition's; the reports cited carried no government response to Monday's demand.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk2 November 20264 min readRead in all 3 languages

The Nepali Congress, Nepal's main opposition party, on Monday demanded the formation of a special parliamentary committee to investigate alleged government excesses, including the detention of journalists, accusing the government of undermining the rule of law and press freedom. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's parliamentary party held at Singha Durbar on Monday morning.

Source: Peoples' Review

Parliamentary party leader Bhishmaraj Angdembe said an electoral mandate in a democracy does not give any government the authority to act above the Constitution and the law, and that those found guilty must face legal action. The party objected to the alleged deployment of police inside newsrooms to arrest journalists without a clear legal basis, an arrest warrant or court authorisation — conduct it described as arbitrary pressure on independent journalism. These are the opposition party's allegations.

Source: Red Voice Nepal

The demand follows arrests on Friday, when plainclothes officers reportedly entered newsrooms and arrested Bishwamani Subedi of Nepal Press, Dhiraj Basnet of DNA Khabar and Shobhraj Baral of Motivate News, while also looking for other journalists, including Nawaraj Mainali of Naya Patrika, and checking mobile phones. The three were freed the same evening after protests and concern expressed from the Prime Minister's Office. According to the reporting, the arrests followed news stories about a reported meeting between a Supreme Court justice and a middleman and about the leadership of Nepal Police, including Inspector General Dan Bahadur Karki.

Source: Red Voice Nepal

At the same meeting, general secretary Pradeep Poudel accused the government of hiding reports prepared by various investigation committees and demanded that Parliament resume its business and the reports be made public. The reports the party listed include those of the Property Investigation Commission, the committee investigating the role of security agencies, the committee probing Sudhan Gurung's assets and investments, the committee investigating the Ganesh Nepali self-immolation case, the Kaptainganj incident study committee, the committee investigating incidents in Siraha and Saptari, and the report on vehicles parked outside media houses.

Source: Peoples' Review

The Congress said it will press for Parliament to be summoned as soon as possible and will consult other opposition parties, MP Krishna Bahadur Rokaya said; opposition parties were scheduled to meet on Monday afternoon. Journalists led by the Federation of Nepali Journalists protested at Maitighar Mandala on Saturday, and Press Council Nepal had objected to arrests made without legal process. The reports cited carried no government response to Monday's demand.

Sources

Peoples' Review — 'Why is government hiding parliamentary investigation reports?' (Nov 2, 2026)

Red Voice Nepal — Congress Demands Parliamentary Probe After Police Arrest Journalists in Newsrooms (Nov 2, 2026)

Daily InformIQ — Nepali Congress demands parliamentary probe into alleged government excesses and journalist arrests (Nov 2, 2026)