Special Court gives clean chit to ex-minister Joshi

A day after it acquitted a ‘tainted’ former minister of corruption charges, the Special Court gave clean chit to former minister Govinda Raj Joshi, dismissing a corruption charge lodged by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against him.

A three-member bench comprising Chairman of the Special Court Bhupadhoj Adhikari and judges Komal Nath Sharma and Cholendra Shumsher Rana cleared Joshi of corruption charges.
The CIAA had on the basis of the report of the Judicial Inquiry Commission on Property (JICP) filed a case at the Special Court, accusing the former minister of amassing Rs30 million without disclosing its source by misusing his authority as then minister.

The court had remanded him in custody for a few days at the request of the anti-graft body but he secured release as the trial continued.

The CIAA had arrested Joshi, a Nepali Congress leader, from his house on October 13, 2003. He held home and education portfolios in different governments in the past.