KATHMANDU: Director Bikey Agrawal-led television program Comedy Darbar has come under public discussion following an alleged telephone directive from the Press Council Nepal, which reportedly influenced edits in its latest episode.
In the ninth episode of the program, viewers noticed multiple instances in which the audio was muted with a beep—reportedly 11 times—during segments featuring dialogue referring to a speaker-like character.
The muted sections were not related to obscene language, but were reportedly used when the phrase “Honorable Speaker” was mentioned during a parody performance.
The program featured actor Saroj Bhattarai impersonating Speaker DP Aryal, while Sujan Zimba played the role of a protocol officer.
The issue surfaced after a lawyer filed a complaint, prompting the Press Council to contact the production team.
Press Council spokesperson Deepak Khanal clarified that the concern was related to the alleged misuse of the federal parliament’s logo, not content censorship.
“An identical logo was used, which is not allowed,” he said, adding that the Council did not instruct the team to censor content or use beep sounds.
He also dismissed claims that complaints were filed by political parties or Speaker-linked representatives, stating that the complaint came from a lawyer.
However, director Agrawal presented a different version, claiming the Council initially instructed them to remove certain jokes and later raised objections over the use of the term “Honorable Speaker”.
According to him, the Council contacted co-director Shraddha Prasain, and discussions later led to a compromise.
“They first told us to remove jokes entirely, which created controversy. Later they became more flexible,” Agrawal said.
He added that instead of removing scenes involving the character, the team opted to replace the disputed phrase with a beep sound to preserve the performance.
“Either we had to remove the performance or use a beep. Removing it would have disrupted the entire episode, so we chose the beep,” he said.
The controversy has drawn mixed reactions from actors involved in the program. Actor Saroj Bhattarai said the issue reflects an attempt to censor comedy content, while fellow performer Vijay Adhikari described it as an attack on freedom of expression.
On social media, several users have also raised concerns, calling it an infringement on artistic and expressive freedom.
Meanwhile, no official statement has been issued from the Speaker’s side, and the Press Council says the matter is under review.
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