Special Court Convicts Nepal Oil Corporation Official, Two Others in Corruption Case

Kathmandu. The Special Court has convicted three individuals, including Chittaranjan Das, the head of the Nepal Oil Corporation's Gandaki Provincial Office, in a corruption case, sentencing them to imprisonment and fines. A bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Judge Bidur Koirala sentenced Das and two others to five months in jail and a fine.

In the same case, the court acquitted Jagannath Dhungana and Laxman Ranabhat, former representatives of the Gandaki Dhaulagiri Petroleum Association, citing insufficient objective evidence of malicious intent or collusion.

The court ruled that Nepal Oil Corporation's Gandaki Province Chief Chittaranjan Das, Nirmal Thapa, and Baburam Jamerkattel would each serve five months in prison. The three were also ordered to pay a fine of NPR 56,065.72 each, which is half of the misappropriated amount (NPR 2,24,262.91) divided equally among them. Additionally, they were ordered to deposit compensation fees into the Victim Relief Fund.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the corruption case against them for illegally trading diesel. While 12,000 liters of diesel were supposed to be sent, 15,038 liters were dispatched, and the tanker carrying the diesel was impounded in Pokhara Metropolitan City-27.

The CIAA claimed that an embezzlement of NPR 448,525 occurred based on the price of the excess 3,038 liters of diesel (at NPR 147 per liter) mentioned over the bill.