KATHMANDU: The Special Court has sentenced three section officers of the Parsa Land Revenue Office to eight years in prison and fined Rs 25 million each for corruption.

In a verdict announced on Monday, the Special Court found the three officials guilty based on a case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on November 6, 2023.

The court has sentenced former Land Revenue Officers Harinarayan Mishra, Bhup Bahadur Bogati, and Computer Officer Kumod Bhandari to eight years in prison each.

The bench comprising Special Court Chair Tek Narayan Kunwar and Judges Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ram Bahadur Rana announced the sentence on Wednesday.

In the same case, the court sentenced another officer, Gopal Bahadur Dhungana, to four years in prison and fined him Rs 7,091,900.

Officer Padam Prasad Aryal received a two-year prison sentence and a fine of Rs 3,366,200.

Earlier, on June 10, the court sentenced Chandra Bahadur Bhandari to six months in prison and fined him double the embezzled amount, totaling Rs 488,900.

Kiran Prasad Upadhyay, another official implicated in the case, passed away.

However, the court ruled that the fine should be recovered from his sons, Rajkishor, Gautam, Pashupati, and Murari Upadhyay.

The court ordered the recovery of Rs 12,511,190.75 from the late Upadhyay’s estate.

Harinarayan Mishra was found liable for the embezzlement of Rs 12,511,990.

Details of the case

The corruption case dates back to the fiscal year 2071/72 when employees of the ‘Ga’ section of the Parsa Land Revenue Office, in collusion, embezzled revenue from land transactions.

The CIAA’s investigation revealed that the revenue collected from registration fees and capital gains tax was not deposited as per regulations but was misappropriated.

The CIAA charged former Land Revenue Officer Harinarayan Mishra with embezzling Rs 20,931,647.

Similarly, Bhup Bahadur Bogati was charged with embezzling Rs 14,969,145.