Kathmandu, December 6: The Special Court on Thursday convicted the then General Manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Sugat Ratna Kansakar and three others on corruption charges related to the procurement of the wide-body aircraft for the Corporation.
The bench of Special court judges, Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar and members Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ritendra Thapa, announced the verdict sentencing Kansakar to two years and nine months in prison. Former NAC Board of Directors Chairman and Tourism Ministry Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari a one-year and nine-month jail term, former NAC Board member Shishir Kumar Dhungana and former joint secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane each to one year and six months in prison.
The court also fined Rs. 122.59 million to the convicted officials and ordered them to pay an equal amount as compensation.
Three foreign representatives of the aircraft supplier company were also found guilty and the verdict was for one year and six months in jail.
The court acquitted former Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, a Nepali Congress leader, and 26 others, including two foreigners.
The Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed charges against 32 individuals, including former Minister Shahi, alleging corruption in the wide-body aircraft procurement process. The CIAA had sought Rs. 1.471 billion in recovery, accusing them of misappropriating funds during the deal.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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