Special Court Convicts One, Acquits Four in Fatuwa Vijaypur Municipality Corruption Case

Kathmandu. The Special Court has convicted one person and acquitted four others in a corruption case related to the procurement of materials for farmers in Fatuwa Vijaypur Municipality, Rautahat.

 The bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and member Hemanta Rawal on Tuesday convicted Om Prakash Yadav, who acted as a middleman.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the case alleging corruption during the tender process called by the municipality in the fiscal year 2078/79 for the distribution of spray tanks to farmers. The court determined that limited competition was created by submitting false details claiming that the tender notice was published in the newspapers 'Jansawal Rastriya Dainik' and 'Terai Express Daily'.

During the investigation, the matter came to light after it was found that only one copy of the notice was printed for submission purposes at the offices of those newspapers, but other copies distributed to the market and the information was not found in the records of the Press Council.

The court sentenced Om Prakash Yadav, who played the main role in this case, to six months in prison. The court concluded that Yadav misled the municipality by using fake letters and forged stamps claiming to be the local representative of both newspapers. After confirming that he received a payment of 212,225 Rupees without publishing the information in the newspapers, the court ordered the recovery of the same amount as misappropriated funds, plus a fine of 212,225 Rupees. Additionally, he must pay 8,489 Rupees as compensation to the Crime Victims Protection Fund.

In the same case, the municipality's then Chief Administrative Officer, Shambhu Prasad Yadav, and Accountant, Navin Kumar Yadav, were acquitted. The court stated that it would not be practical for the employees to verify how many copies were printed for the market or what was in the Press Council records for every advertisement, as they relied on the original copies of the newspapers submitted in the office for payment. The court acquitted them, stating that no malice was evident on their part.

Similarly, the acquitted individuals also include Ramji Bagale, the editor of Jansawal Daily, and Rupendra Patel, the publisher of Terai Express. The court upheld their statements and evidence that the notice was not published in their respective newspapers, Om Prakash Yadav was not their representative, and they had not received any payment for it. The brief verdict of the court mentioned that the fake representative Yadav misappropriated the funds unilaterally by misleading everyone.