Former executive director of the Security Printing Centre Bikal Paudel has been convicted of corruption in the procurement of equipment for the state-owned printing facility.

A full bench of the Special Court comprising Chairperson Tek Narayan Kunwar and justices Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ram Bahadur Thapa handed Paudel a sentence of one year and six months in prison on Sunday.

The court ordered him to pay a fine of Rs135.85 million—the same amount he was found to have caused in losses to the state—and imposed an additional six-month prison term due to his leadership position at the time.

Meanwhile, in the same case, Akbar Hussain, CEO of Max International Pvt Ltd—the supplier firm—was handed an identical sentence of one year and six months, along with a fine equal to the damages. Both Paudel and Hussain were also ordered to contribute Rs5.43 million each to the Victim Relief Fund.

The court imposed a matching penalty on Max International Pvt Ltd as a corporate entity, requiring the company to reimburse the Rs135.85 million loss.

The case stemmed from allegations of inflated procurement costs and irregularities in the acquisition of security printing equipment.

The court acquitted four other individuals who had been charged in the same case.

The verdict follows increasing scrutiny over government procurement procedures, especially in sectors involving sensitive infrastructure such as national security printing.