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 Rajbhandari´s property did not match her legitimate income sources.[break]
The Special Court found that Rajbhandari had acquired movable and immovable property valued at Rs 24,619,932 from undisclosed sources while she served as chief custom officer at Tribhuvan International Airport from 1998 to 2000.
The court found that Rajbhandari had just Rs 2,373, 500 before she assumed the post of chief custom officer while she deposited Rs 22.9 million later on.
In addition, the Special Court ordered the Kathmandu District Court, which will enforce the implementation of the verdict, to confiscate Rs 225,486 deposited at Himalayan Bank and at Nepal Bangladesh Bank in the name of Rajbhandari´s daughter Monisa and Rs 2,166,455 deposited in the name of Rajbhandari´s husband Achyut Narayan.
Similarly, the Special Court ordered the Kathmandu District Court to confiscate Rs 5,339, 214 deposited at various banks in the name of Rajbhandari herself, Rs 70,000 invested in share and Toyota Corolla car valued at 700,000.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against Rajbhandari on Sep 1, 2005, accusing him of acquiring Rs. 29,081,821 from unknown sources.
In 2007, the same court headed by different judges had acquitted Joshi, citing statute of limitations. SC on April 13 had ordered reopening of the case. Following the apex court´s order, the CIAA on June 13 had again filed case at the Special Court.
Rajbhandari is third former bureaucrat to be convicted of corruption by the Special Court within a week.
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