Courts charge corrupt politicians
Like some of their counterparts in India politicians in Nepal are also in the line of fire from courts these days. Utpal Parashar reports.
Like some of their counterparts in India politicians in Nepal are also in the line of fire from courts these days.
In less than a week, two politicians, a former minister and a lawmaker, have been sentenced to jail by courts on charges of corruption and bribery.
On Thursday, former minister and senior Nepali Congress leader Chiranjivi Wagle was sentenced to 18 months in jail and imposed a fine of NRs 20.3 million by the Supreme Court.
Wagle, who was sacked as a minister in October 2002, for amassing wealth disproportionate to his income, would serve a term of five years and five months, for expressing inability to pay the fine.
A senior member in the governments led by GP Koirala, KP Bhattarai and Sher Bahadur Deuba, Wagle had held charge several important ministries before his ouster. The SC verdict was the first instance of a senior politician getting convicted as per provision of the Corruption Prevention Act of 2002.
Wagle's arrest had barely left the headlines when a special court sentenced former Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) lawmaker Dol Bahadur Karki to a six month jail term on Sunday.
Karki was suspended from his Constituent Assembly membership in August 2010 for accepting a bribe NRs 100,000 from a person by promising him the post of an inspector in Nepal police.
On Sunday, the SC summoned former inspector general of Nepal Police Pradip SJB Rana in connection with a 2005 case of allegedly accumulating property illegally.