Kathmandu,
Nov. 23: The Special Court has convicted former Joint-Secretary Arun Kumar
Ranjitkar in a corruption case and sentenced him to one year in prison along
with fines. The court has decided to confiscate Rs. 4.54 million, amount that
he misappropriated and to charge fine equivalent to the amount misappropriated
by him.
A
division bench headed by Court Chairman Gauri Bahadur Karki and comprising
Court members Om Prakash Mishra and Kedar Prasad Chalise handed down a verdict
to that end on Friday.
Former
Joint –Secretary Ranjitkar has been accused of embezzling 4.54 million while he
was in government service.
Delivering
the verdict, the bench stated shares worth Rs. 4.067 million and the amount
accruing from the shares in the name of Ranjitkar and members of his family
would go to the government coffers, and the vehicle worth Rs. 400,000 and the
shortfall of Rs. 77,803 would be confiscated from the bank savings.
Of
the property including house, land, vehicle, shares and bank balance totaling
Rs. 25.208 million owned by Ranjitkar and his family, property equivalent to
Rs. 20.6 million is legal and Rs. 4.5 million was found to be in excess to the
legal income, the court stated in the verdict.
It
may be noted earlier the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority
(CIAA) had on March 1, 2005 filed a case of corruption against former
government senior official Ranjitkar at the Court. But later, the Court on July
5, 2006 had quashed the case citing time- limit.
Following
the direction from the Supreme Court, the file relating to Ranjitkar's case was
opened again as per the Article 24 (A) of the Prevention OF Corruption Act on
March 13, 2012.
Ranjitkar
had joined the government service in 2029 Bs as an assistant engineer and was
retired from the post of joint secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning
and Works in the month of Bhadau 2058 BS.
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