Kathmandu: A former Nepalese minister on Wednesday was sentenced to 1.5 years in jail on graft charges and was slapped a penalty of over Rs 21 million by a special court, a ruling reversing his earlier acquittal in 2006.
The Special Court sentenced Govinda Raj Joshi, a Nepali Congress leader, to 1.5 years in jail and slapped a penalty of Rs 21.614 million on graft charges.
The full bench of Special Court judges Gauri Bahadur Karki, Om Prakash Mishra and Kedar Prasad Chalise issued the final verdict on the graft case against Joshi.
The case was first filed by the anti-graft body Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) in 2004 against Joshi.
The CIAA filed the case at the Supreme Court after the special court gave clean chit to him.
The special court again looked into the case after Supreme Court ordered it to reopen the case.
Joshi became minister for seven times in different governments and held different portfolios, including Home, local development, water resources and education, in the 1990s. He was accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to his income while in public office.
The Special Court said that it is yet to prepare the full text of today`s decision.
The court said the property worth Rs 21.614 million was not in accordance with his valid sources of income and that it would be confiscated out of the total Rs 39.362 million-property in question.
The Court said in its verdict that Joshi was found guilty of corruption as per the provisions in the existing anti-corruption acts.
PTI
