Head of Road Division convicted in Rs 40 million corruption case

Published On: January 15, 2024 06:24 PM NPT By: Bhasa Sharma

KATHMANDU, Jan 15: Jitendra Kumar Chaudhary, the then head of Road Division Office, Biratnagar, has been found guilty in a corruption case. The Special Court in Kathmandu found Chaudhary guilty and set a date for sentencing.

The bench of Special Court Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar, members Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa found Chaudhary guilty in the corruption case on Sunday. He was found guilty and the sentence will be announced on January 29.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse Of Authority (CIAA) had registered a case at the Special Court against Chaudhary for allegedly acquiring illegal assets in collaboration with contractors in various road projects while working in the Divisional Road Office, Morang. On February 17, 2021, the CIAA demanded Rs 39.99 million be recovered from Chaudhary as well as he be fined and imprisoned.

A complaint was filed that Chaudhary had invested the money in a house and a bank. The CIAA investigated and found that Jitendra Kumar Chaudhary and his family had an unnaturally high standard of living, spending money beyond their means and purchasing real estate in the names of themselves, their wives and their sons.

Besides, there was a demand of the CIAA to recover the claimed amount from his wife, son and the property named after them, equal to the amount of money earned illegally.

The CIAA claimed that Chaudhury had misused his position while holding a public service role, and that the undisclosed assets were also in the names of his wife Kiran Chaudhary, son Abhishek Chaudhary and daughter Smriti Chaudhary.

At the same time, for the purpose of confiscating the claimed amount, a charge sheet was registered demanding that his wife and son be made defendants.

Similarly, Chawdhury was acquitted by the Special Court in another corruption case. The CIAA registered a case against him for corruption in collaboration with the contractor while working in a joint venture contract with Bhumi Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. Chaudhary was accused of taking bribes of Rs 3.5 million in the name of commissions and depositing it in his wife's account. He was acquitted as the charge was proved false.