Tuesday, September 20, 2005

SC Hears Shahi Graft Case

Kathmandu, September 20-The Supreme Court on Monday conducted a hearing in the corruption case filed by the CIAA against incumbent Home Minister Dan Bahdur Shahi and a former Minister for Agriculture and Co-operatives, Padma Sundar Lawati. A division bench of Justices Kedar Prasad Giri and Arjun Prasad Singh today heard the case. During the hearing, government attorney Brajesh Pyakurel and CIAA’s advocate Nanda Bahadur Subedi sought the court order to slap the maximum sentence on the accused.
The CIAA had, seven years ago, moved the apex court challenging the Patan Appellate Court verdict that had given them clean chits. The CIAA had accused them of illegally amassing Rs 700 million in course of importing fertiliser when Shahi was Agriculture secretary and Lawati a minister. Government attorney Pyakurel argued, “The clean chits given by the court was meaningless. As it was a result of insufficient examination of proof, the SC should check the proof thoroughly.”

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