The Special Court has sentenced Bharat Thapa, the mayor of Bagmati Municipality in Sarlahi, to eight years in prison and fined him Rs 100 million for corruption in the construction of Bharat Lake.
On Thursday, the Special Court sentenced Mayor Thapa and employees Bimal Kumar Pokharel and Sagar Paudel to eight years in prison and a fine of Rs 100 million each.
The court also ordered them to deposit Rs 4.04 million each in compensation into the Victims' Relief Fund.
On August 6, the court had found Thapa, Pokharel, Paudel guilty of corruption for misappropriating riverbed materials (stones, gravel, and sand) during the construction of Bharat Lake in Bagmati Municipality.
A bench of Special Court Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar and members Murari Babu Shrestha and Bidur Koirala ruled that the three caused a loss of Rs 302.93 million worth of riverine resources (stones, gravel, and sand) during the lake’s construction.
Leela Kumari Moktan, Bishwaraj Pokharel, and Methur Chaudhary were acquitted in the case.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the case at the Special Court on June 11, 2024.
Also on August 6, the court had found Thapa guilty of illegally amassing property worth Rs 34.52 million in another case.
The court ordered a fine equivalent to this amount and the confiscation of the corresponding property. It also sentenced him to to one year in prison for the offense.
This case was filed by the CIAA at the Special Court on April 9, 2024.
Thapa was elected mayor from the CPN (Maoist Center) in the local elections held in May 2022.
