A bench of the tribunal´s Chairman Gauri Bahadur Karki and members Om Prakash Mishra and Kedar Prasad Chalise passed the verdict after they found that Joshi´s property did not match his legitimate income sources. [break]
The court found that Joshi acquired Rs 26.8 million between 1991 and 2001, or 21.6 million more than his income from legitimate sources. He had held the ministerial portfolios of Education; Culture and Social Welfare; Water Resources; General Administration; Local Development; and Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation between 1991 and 2001.
Joshi is the third politician convicted of corruption in two years. Earlier, former Nepali Congress leader Chiranjivi Wagle and Chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Republic JP Gupta were convicted for graft. Wagle has already served his sentence and Gupta is still in jail.
Joshi has not accepted the verdict. "The verdict has done me injustice. It´s against the court´s own precedent," he told Republica.
The verdict, however, is preliminary and Joshi can move the Supreme Court for a revision.
"I will appeal to the apex court and I am hopeful I will get justice," Joshi said.
The verdict comes into effective only if Joshi does not appeal.
In 2006, the same court headed by different judges had acquitted Joshi, citing statute of limitations. The tribunal, which deals with corruption cases, revised that verdict following an order from the Supreme Court. The apex court returned the case to the Special Court for fresh hearings, ordering an evaluation on its merits.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against Joshi on January 12, 2004, accusing him of acquiring Rs 30.93 million from unknown sources between 1991 and 2001 when he held various ministerial portfolios.
Dissatisfied with the 2006 verdict, the CIAA had moved the apex court.
The Special Court also slapped Joshi´s accomplice Taranath Pandey with six months in jail and a fine of Rs 1,140,000.
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