The SC concluded that Chaturbedi, who held high government positions for years, engaged in corruption amounting to Rs 13.9 million.[break]
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the biggest ever corruption case against Chaturbedi compared to cases it had brought against other individuals on corruption charges.
The national anti-graft body claimed that Chaturbedi illicitly amassed property worth Rs 69.2 million, and it subsequently filed case at the Special Court nearly seven years ago.
Issuing a 139-page verdict, a division bench of the SC comprising Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi and Justice Sushila Karki slapped a Rs 13.9 million fine and one and half years imprisonment on Chaturbedi. Additionally, the apex court said that Rs 13.9 million should be recovered from Chaturbedi, who originally hailed from Sirsiya-3 of Parsa district.
The apex court upheld a decision to convict Chaturbedi taken by a full bench of the Special Court comprising then chief judge Govinda Prasad Parajuli and members Rana Bahadur Bam and Bhupdhoj Adhikary.
The SC, however, reduced the fine and jail term slapped by the Special Court. Convicting Chaturbedi on graft charges, the Special Court had slapped Rs 19.1 million in fine and a jail term of two years.
Challenging the Special Court verdict, Chaturbedi had filed a review petition at the apex court, claiming that the Special Court verdict was unfair to him.
Chaturbedi has served for years in the capacities of executive chairman, executive director and general manager at various government-owned entities including Nepal Airlines Corporation, Nepal Oil Corporation and Nepal Construction Company Pvt. Ltd. The CIAA had arrested him and initiated a probe against him when he was general manager of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC), as it then was.
Subsequently, the national anti-graft body filed corruption cases against Chaturbedi, and also against his wife Asha, sons Ritesh and Abhisek and daughter Aaditi, accusing them of abetting him in crime.
Following months-long investigations, the CIAA had concluded that Chaturbedi amassed a huge amount of moveable and immoveable property including houses, land and various companies in Kathmandu and other parts of the country, flouting legal norms.
The CIAA´s main charge was that Chaturbedi accumulated assets through illegal means and deposited those at various banks in India in the names of his wife, sons and daughter, in a bid to evade possible action against him.
The commission had found Chaturbedi´s total property to be worth Rs 77.2 million. Of this total, according to the CIAA, Chaturbedi accumulated only Rs 6.72 million through legal means. The commission said Chaturbedi tampered with documents to hide the extent of his property.
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