KATHMANDU, March 13: The Supreme Court (SC) is set to deliver its verdict on March 21 on a corruption case that has been pending for the past 12 years. A joint bench of Justices Saranga Subedi and Abdul Ajeej Musalman is scheduled to deliver the verdict. The case dates back to 2011 (2068 BS).

On October 17, 2011, the government filed an appeal at the Supreme Court in a corruption case involving nine individuals, including Dinesh Nath Chalise. Dissatisfied with the decision of the Special Court regarding the corruption case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), an appeal was made to the Supreme Court. However, the case remained largely unheard and unlisted for hearings.

On August 9, 2022, an order was issued to submit the case file. Additionally, Hari Krishna Karki represented defendant Chalise as lawyer in the same case. However, six months have passed since Justice Karki was appointed to the Supreme Court as a justice and subsequently assumed the role of Chief Justice before retiring. The Supreme Court is now expected to deliver its verdict on the case.

Several other old corruption cases have been pending at the Supreme Court for an extended period. More than 4,000 cases have been awaiting resolution at the Supreme Court for over five years, some dating back 16 years. Old corruption cases involving former minister Govinda Raj Joshi and others remain unresolved. Moreover, specific individual corruption cases have been put on hold.

Following the registration of the appeal petition at the Supreme Court, the first petition was filed on April 3, 2012, before a joint bench comprising Justices Damodar Prasad Sharma and Girish Chandra Lal. However, the trial was adjourned at the beginning by the parties' legal representatives. After that, the case was adjourned by the plaintiff's legal representative on May 27, 2012.

Thereafter, a joint bench of Justices Damodar Prasad Sharma and Tarkaraj Bhatt ordered the settlement of the dispute. However, the legal representatives of the parties repeatedly postponed the case. Generally, there is a legal provision allowing legal practitioners to adjourn a case up to three times.

In this case, the plaintiff's legal representatives adjourned the case 15 times. Despite numerous adjournments, the corruption case, which has faced several delays in hearings, was scheduled twice in 2020, once in 2021, twice in 2022, and nine times in 2023.

Case background

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case against the directors of Silver Fiber Textile Mills Pvt Ltd, Gaudakot, on May 13, 2009. The case implicated Thakur Prasad Thapa, Jeevan Bista, Kishor Baskota, Dinesh Nath Chalise, former managing director of Nepal Bangladesh Bank Narendra Bhattarai, assistant manager Balakrishna Sharma, bank official Ujjwal Pandey, and others, including Rajesh Rajkarnikar.

The CIAA lodged a case at the Special Court, alleging embezzlement of funds from the Employee Provident Fund and involvement in corruption, seeking compensation of Rs 196.81 million.

Under Nepal Bangladesh Bank's leadership, a loan of Rs 100 million was provided to the mill from the Employee Provident Fund (EPF). The CIAA accused the mill of corruption, alleging that it received millions of rupees in commissions to benefit from the loan, resulting in losses to the EPF.

The assessment report submitted by Thakur Pratap Thapa, Jeevan Bista, financial analyst Kishor Baskota, and consultant engineer Dinesh Nath Chalise contained false claims about textile and towel production and their export to other countries.

False documents were submitted while obtaining a loan from the EPF in the industry's name. The CIAA filed a case against nine individuals, including the industry operator, the accountant involved in fabricating false documents, and an employee. An audit report revealed the industry's losses during tax payments.

Instead of repaying the EPF, the CIAA claims that the industry has caused loss to the state by claiming that it is making a profit. The industry was shut down after taking the loan. After the  mill defaulted on the loan, the CIAA initiated a corruption case. The CIAA registered the case in the Special Court on May 21, 2009.

The Special Court sentenced Thakur Pratap Thapa, owner of Silver Fiber Textile Mill, to six months' imprisonment for manipulating data and approving the loan, which led to losses to Employees' Provident Fund. The verdict was delivered by then Judge Gauri Bahadur Karki of the Special Court, along with Judges Kedar Prasad Chalise and Om Prakash Mishra.

Thapa generated a fraudulent audit of the mill which was bearing loss and secured a loan from the EPF by falsely claiming that the mill was making profits. Then, the mill incurred further losses and eventually collapsed. Following this, the corruption case was pursued by the CIAA.

The Special Court determined that the loan was approved from the EPF based on falsified documents. It was deemed a corruption offense due to the loan being granted under false report, resulting in unlawful gains and detriment to the Employees' Provident Fund.

 
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