The Special Court has convicted three individuals, including Chitranjan Das, chief of the Gandaki Provincial Office of the Nepal Oil Corporation, in a corruption case.

A bench of Special Court chair Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Judge Bidur Koirala sentenced Das, Nirmal Thapa and Baburam Jamarkattel to five months in prison each. The court also ordered each to pay a fine of Rs56,672, calculated as half of the claimed loss amount divided equally. They have also been directed to deposit compensation in the victims’ relief fund.

In the same case, Jagannath Dhungana and Laxman Ranabhat, former representatives of the Gandaki Dhaulagiri Petroleum Association, were acquitted, with the court citing insufficient objective evidence of collusion.

The case was filed by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, accusing the officials of illegal diesel trading.

According to the commission, 15,038 litres of diesel were dispatched instead of the approved 12,000 litres. The tanker carrying the fuel was seized in ward 27 of Pokhara Metropolitan City.

The commission claimed that 3,038 litres of diesel were misappropriated beyond the billed amount, causing a loss of Rs448,525, calculated at Rs147 per litre.