Mohan Bahadur Basnet, mayor of Nagarjun Municipality in Kathmandu who was convicted in a corruption case, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
On Monday, a bench of Special Court Judges Tek Narayan Kunwar and Ram Bahadur Thapa sentenced both Basnet and Raju Prasad Kandel, chairman of Padma Colony, to eight years in prison for taking and giving bribe, respectively.
The court slapped a jail term of an additional three months on Basnet, ruling that he was found to have committed the offense while in office as a mayor.
The court fined Basnet, Kandel, Padma Colony, and Padma Merchant Company Rs 23.06 million each, while also ordering confiscation of an equivalent amount from all four.
It also ordered that Basnet deposit Rs 10.5 million, and the other three Rs 922,460 each to the victims relief fund.
Additionally, the court sentenced Basnet to three years in prison and fined him Rs 262.55 million for money laundering. Also, it added 10 percent to Basnet’s jail term and fine as per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The court also ordered confiscation of his property and land mentioned in the charge sheet.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against Basnet in the Special Court on December 30 last year, accusing him of money laundering and taking bribe.
It was alleged that Kandel, chairman of Padma Colony, had given a bribe to acquire land in the name of his company. The CIAA claimed that Kandel had paid Basnet a bribe of Rs 92.25 million.
On June 20, a bench of Judges Kunwar and Thapa found Basnet guilty of taking bribe. The court also found him guilty of money laundering, for which the CIAA had claimed Rs 131.27 million from him.
The anti-corruption body had also named Basnet’s wife, Urmila, as a defendant. However, the court acquitted her on the charges of money laundering and taking bribe.
Kandel was found guilty on the charge of bribery. However, the court acquitted him on the money laundering charge citing insufficient evidence.
Basnet was elected from the Nepali Congress.
