KATHMANDU, Jan 9: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday convicted former general manager of Nepal Oil Corporation, Yubraj Sharma, of corruption and slapped one year prison term along with confiscation of the corruption amount of Rs 5.3 million and a fine of the same amount.
The apex court found that Sharma had acquired movable and immovable property worth around Rs 5.3 million from undisclosed sources while serving in different government posts from 1997 onwards.
After finding that Sharma was possessing property disproportionate to his income, a division bench of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi and Justice Sushila Karki issued the verdict, overturning a previous decision of the Special Court that had given a clean chit to Sharma in the case filed by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The CIAA had filed the case against Sharma on October 28, 2003, accusing Sharma of amassing property valued at Rs 10 million from undisclosed sources.
The SC has also ordered the Kathmandu District Court, which will implement the verdict, to seize shares at Hams Hospital valued at Rs 2 million and shares at Institute of Technology valued at Rs 572,000 held by Sharma.
Similarly, the apex court has ordered the Kathmandu District Court to seize Rs 900,000 deposited at Nepal Rastra Bank in the name of Sharma´s wife and Rs 500,000 deposited at various banks in the name of Sharma´s son. The SC has also ordered the Kathmandu District Court to seize Sharma´s Hyundai Santro car valued at Rs 1 million and jewelries worth around Rs 300,000.
The Special Court had exonerated Sharma of the corruption charge on December 13, 2007, stating that the court did not find Sharma´s property disproportionate to his legitimate income sources as claimed by CIAA.
The CIAA had challenged the Special Court´s verdict at the apex court on May 14, 2008.
The apex court found that Sharma acquired Rs 5.4 million from legitimate sources while he earned Rs 5.3 million from undisclosed sources.
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