KATHMANDU – Strong politician of Nepali Congress and former Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka has been convicted of corruption charges by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
After a series of hiccups the apex court delivered its verdict on Khadka’s case that was filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) six years ago after the Special Court acquitted Khadka of all corruption charges.
In its case, the CIAA had accused the Congress politician of earning property and wealth disproportionate to his income during his various ministerial stints since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
A joint bench of Justice Kalyan Shrestha and Baidyanath Upadhaya sentenced Khadka one and half years of imprisonment and a fine of rupees 9.47 million concluding that Khadka misappropriated an equal amount by abusing his authority.
However the CIAA had claimed that Khadka had misappropriated 23.6 million rupees in its charge sheet.
The recently escalated drive of the supreme court to deal sternly with corrupt leaders have sent former minister Chiranjivi Wagle and an incumbent minister for communication and information JP Gupta behind the bars.
Khadka’s supporters which were rallied from his home district Dang and surrounding area resorted to vandalism in Singhadurbar area and vandalised a police van and a taxi to protest the verdict.
They claimed that the case against Khadka was politically motivated and added that Khadka was a political victim to the incumbent Maoist government which was removing its strong opponents in the name of corruption.