The Special Court in April 2012 had also given clean chit to Kharel, a judgment upheld by the apex court on Sunday. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had moved the apex court as the Special Court’s in 2012 established that Kharel’s legal property amounts to less than their income. The court had stated that Kharel and his family possessed property worth Rs 18.9 million, including a house, while his legal income during his 30-year service in the Nepal Police amounted to Rs 19.2 million.

The CIAA had filed the case against Kharel at Special Court in 2004 claiming that he amassed property worth Rs 16.33 million illegally. However, the court acquitted him in March, 2007, citing that the anti-graft body breached the one-year statute of limitations while filingthe case.

The CIAA had also moved the apex court then challenging the Special Court decision. After receiving an appeal to review a “flawed” verdict, a division bench of then Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi and Justice Kalyan Kumar Shrestha decided to redirect the case to the Special Court for another hearing. In reviewing the case, the Special Court had issued the 2012 verdict.