A bench comprising Judges Pawan Kumar Sharma, Prabha Basnet and Mahesh Prasad Pudasaini on Tuesday convicted former members of the Constituent Assembly Shiva Pujan Raya Yadav, Bishwanath Prasad Yadav and Gayatri Shah. However, the bench acquitted former lawmaker Naradmuni Rana and incumbent CA member Hari Charan Shah, the father of Gayatri Shah, in the case.The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed corruption case against them at the Special Court on May 11, 2011.
The Special Court also convicted five officials of the Immigration Department for assisting the former lawmakers in the misuse of diplomatic passport. Those convicted are Indra Kumar Sunuwar, Devi Datta Khatri, Ramesh Lamsal, Shyam Bahadur Bhandari and Bhumi Nanda Bhandari. They have been sentenced to four months in jail and fined Rs 15,000 each.
However, the bench has acquitted former chief of the Immigration Department Khadananda Dhakal in the case.
Likewise, the court has awarded one-and-a-half year jail term and a fine of Rs 75,000 each to Prithvi Chhantyal, Sita Sah, Nirmal Baniya and Kedarnath Sharma for using the forged diplomatic passports, which had their photographs changed. The court has also slapped one-year jail term and a fine of Rs 50,000 each on Devendra Paudel, Manoj Karki, Gopal Baniya, Dil Bahadur Gharti and Santosh Upreti, for acting as middlemen.
The Special Court had put the case on hold earlier as the Kathmandu District Court was looking into a forgery case against them. Following the district court's verdict to convict Raya, Yadav and Sah, the Special Court had reopened the corruption case against them.
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