KATHMANDU: The Special Court has announced 12 individuals, including Shobhakant Dhakal and Ramkumar Subedi, guilty in the Lalita Niwas land misappropriation case.

The verdict was announced by the bench comprising Special Court Chair Tek Narayan Kunwar,  along with judges Khushi Prasad Tharu, Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Ritendra Thapa.

Three former ministers, including former Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchadhar, have been acquitted in the case related to government land at Lalita residence in Baluwatar.

The decision was given after continuous hearings spanning from January 16 to February 13 with 175 defendants, including prominent figures like former Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchdhar, Bhatbhateni Supermarket owner Min Bahadur Gurung, and former ministers Chandra Dev Joshi and Dambar Shrestha.

Among the accused, 110 individuals have already been sentenced, while 65 face charges solely related to land confiscation.

The case originated from a filing by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on February 5, 2020.

The CIAA alleged corruption involving the misappropriation of over 136 ropani of government land at Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar.

The main protagonists in the charge sheet, including Ram Kumar Subedi, Sobhakanta Dhakal, and Min Bahadur Gurung, are said to be the masterminds and middlemen behind the corruption scheme.

Former Prime Ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai provided statements in the case, but the CIAA declined to prosecute, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

A pending writ against this decision awaits resolution in the Supreme Court.

Furthermore, revelations about the transfer of government land into the names of Supreme Court Judge Kumar Regmi and UML Vice Chairman Bishnu Paudel’s son added complexity to the case.