Wide body scam: Former secretaries, NAC GM Kansakar convicted on corruption charge

Kathmandu, Dec 6: The Special Court has convicted then General Manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Sugat Ratna Kansakar and three others on charge of corruption in the procurement of aircraft for the national flag carrier NAC.

A bench of Chairman of Special Court Tek Narayan Kunwar and Members Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ritendra Thapa on Thursday announced the verdict convicting Kansakar, former Chairman of NAC Board of Directors and Tourism Ministry’s Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari, former NAC Board of Directors and former secretary Shishir Kumur Dhungana and then joint secretary of tourism ministry Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane.

The court has sentenced Kansakar to two years and nine months in jail. Likewise, Adhikari gets jail term of one year and nine months and equal one year and six months to Dhungana and Lamichhane. The court has imposed a fine of Rs 122.59 million on all the defendants and an equal amount of penalty from the convicted officials. Likewise, the Special Court has convicted three representatives of the aircraft supplier company.

The court has sentenced one year and six months in jail to those three foreigners. However, then Minister for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi and 26 others including two foreigners were acquitted in the case. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had lodged the charge sheet against 32 persons, including former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Shahi, on the charge of corruption on procurement of wide-body aircraft.

The CIAA had sought Rs 1.471 million in recovery for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation in the procurement of the wide-body aircraft. The anti-graft body had also sued aircraft suppliers company’s representatives, citizens from Germany, Romania and Moldova.