The Special Court on Friday convicted Pramod Nepal, an under secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, of corruption.

On September 17, 2023, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had filed a corruption case at the Special Court against Nepal on the charge of receiving graft for licence renewal of an airline company and a paragliding company.

A bench comprising Special Court Chairperson Tek Narayan Kunwar and members Ram Bahadur Thapa and Murari Babu Shrestha held Nepal guilty and announced a one year jail term and a penalty of Rs600,000.

Nepal, who is known for academic excellence and is a recipient of a Tribhuvan University gold medal in economics, was caught red-handed with Rs2.25 million in bribe in early August last year. He was arrested with Rs600,000 and an additional Rs1.65 million was found in a car he was using.

On the allegation associated with BB Airways’ licence renewal, the commission had sought three to six months of jail and a fine of Rs1.65 million for him as per the section 5 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act-2002. And in the paragliding licence case, the anti-graft body had sought up to two years in jail and a fine of Rs600,000 for him as per the section 3 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act-2002.

However, another accused Hari Bhakta Shrestha, chief executive officer of BB Airways, was given a clean chit. The anti-graft body had accused Shrestha of acting as an accomplice in the alleged corruption.