Supreme Court to hear corruption case against former minister Sanjay Sah

Kathmandu. The corruption and money laundering case against former minister Sanjay Kumar Sah ‘Takla’ has been scheduled for hearing at the Supreme Court. The case is listed first in the joint bench of Justices Balkrishna Dhakal and Shrikant Poudel.

The case, which reached the Supreme Court on October 5, 2077 BS, has had its hearing scheduled 16 times in five years. In this case, a notice of hearing was issued once, an order to summon the respondent was issued once, and two other orders were issued.

The hearing in this case has not taken place for three years. On September 6, 2080 BS, the joint bench of Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Dr. Nahkul Subedi had ordered to summon the case file. Since then, the case has not been heard.

On February 15, 2076 BS, the bench of Special Court Justices Krishna Giri, Shanti Singh Thapa, and Chandrabahadur Saru had ordered Sanjay Sah to serve 4 years in jail for corruption and to confiscate the illegally acquired amount of Rs 194,438,983, along with a fine of the same amount.

Similarly, the Special Court had determined that Rs 142,501,716 was laundered from Sah. On February 29, 2076 BS, the Special Court had sentenced Sah to 5 years in jail for money laundering. Legal provisions state that imprisonment for money laundering can range from two to ten years.

The Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that a separate hearing must be held within one month for the determination of punishment in offenses punishable by more than three years of imprisonment. Accordingly, the Special Court had determined the punishment for Sah, who was also found guilty of money laundering.

Dissatisfied with the Special Court's decision on punishment, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed appeals in the Supreme Court on October 5, 2077 BS for the corruption case and on October 9, 2077 BS for the money laundering case.

Furthermore, Sanjay Kumar Sah approached the Supreme Court on October 12, 2077 BS against the Special Court's verdict. The Supreme Court has been scheduling hearings for the applications filed by the CIAA and Sanjay Sah together.

The CIAA had filed a case against Sah at the Special Court on January 8, 2073 BS on charges of illegally acquiring assets. The commission had filed a charge sheet alleging that the source of assets worth Rs 315,026,559 was unknown. The CIAA had named eight individuals as defendants.

On April 16, 2074 BS, the Department of Money Laundering Investigation filed a case against Sah, claiming an amount of Rs 320,450,304. The department had named Sah's father Sadhu Sah Sudi, mother Dulari Devi Sah, wife Rangila Kumari Sah, Ramkumar Sah, and 12 others as defendants.

The Special Court had ruled that Ramkumar Sah would serve one year and eight months in jail, while the rest would serve two years and six months. The CIAA's investigation revealed that Sah's assets were disproportionate following a complaint filed against him.

The CIAA's investigation claimed that Sah had amassed disproportionate wealth after holding public office, having served twice as a member of the Constituent Assembly and Parliament (MP) and as the State Minister for Physical Planning and Construction.

The investigation by the Department of Money Laundering revealed that the illegally acquired assets and funds were hidden with the collusion of a total of 12 defendants, including Sah's father Sadhu Sah Sudi, mother Dulari Devi Sah, wife Rangila Kumari Sah, brother Ramkumar Sah, Manoj Kumar Singh, Neelam Singh, Ram Milan Raut Kurmi, Omprakash Yadav, and Sujit Kumar Pandey.