Court called against Bhutan Observer

Thimphu, February 13, 2009: One bus driver and his conductor have sued the Bhutan Observer (BO) alleging that false news story published in the paper resulted in the loss of jobs for them.

The case has been filed at the Thimphu district court by Dorji and his assistant Tenpa Wangdi of Meto transport on January 21.

They said they were sacked from jobs on January 17 following a newspaper story which said the bus carried extra passengers, overcharged and misbehaved with them. The bus was on its way from Trashigang to Thimphu on January 6.

‘Troubled Bus’, the news story in the paper stated that the bus carried nine extra passengers without issuing tickets but charging the same fare. The bus had a capacity of 19 passengers.

Dorji rejected all charges claiming the news to be wrong since it was impossible to carry extra passengers since there were several check posts, RSTA officials and police inspection along the way.

Dorji said the news appeared on the newspaper because the reporter was charged Nu 100 for a carton and the news was personally motivated. But The paper’s managing editor Needrup Zangpo said they stand by the reporter since it was factual.