The Special Court has convicted four people including the then executive director of the Security Printing Center Bikal Paudel of corruption in procurement of equipment for Security Printing Press.
A bench of Special Court Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar and member Murari Babu Shrestha ruled four people including Paudel guilty of corruption on Tuesday. Five others were acquitted.
The court sentenced Paudel to two years in prison and fined him Rs 254.7 million, while it handed a six-month jail sentence and a fine of Rs 58.45 million to the then chief divisional engineer Navin Kumar Pokharel.
The court fined private entrepreneurs Rohit Man Pradhan and Bhuwan Maharjan Rs 58.45 million and Rs 57.96 million, respectively.
Former staffers of the Security Printing Center Ramesh Prasad Pokharel, Manik Man Maharjan, Ram Bahadur Buda and Shirish Upadhyaya, and consultant Mitra Lal Gurau were acquitted in the case.
On April 16 last year, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a corruption case against nine people including Paudel at the Special Court.
The anti-graft body had charged them with awarding/winning contract for procurement of Power System in Security Printing Press, and Pressurized Fuel Storage Tank by taking commission.
It had demanded claims amounting to Rs 2.69 billion from the nine accused, including Rs 690 million from Paudel alone.
