Special Court gives fractured verdict on governor's case; will now be heard in the Supreme Court
Bijaya Nath Bhattarai (File Photo)
The protracted case against the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Bijaya Nath Bhattarai witnessed a new twist on Sunday with three of the presiding judges of the Special Court (SC) giving three different verdicts on a case of corruption they were hearing in the court against him.
Consequently, the matter will now be heard in the apex court.
On Friday, the three-member Special Court bench had heard the case the whole day. They delivered the fractured verdict just after office hours in the evening.
The chief judge of the Special Court Bhoop Dhoj Adhikary concluded that the case did not have enough strength and suggested the accused be given a clean chit. A judge of the court, Komal Nath Sharma pointed at the need for further evidence to proceed with the case while the third judge, Cholendra SJB Rana saw enough evidence to sentence him as guilty.
The divided verdict was informed to the press by sub-registrar of the Special Court, Ritendra Thapa.
The case against governor Bhattarai, who remains suspended since last seven months after the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) slapped him with charges of financial irregularities, has attracted even the attention of donors with some of them publicly expressing disenchantment over the delay in settling of such a 'sensitive case involving the governor of the central bank.'
The Special Court had been deferring delivering its verdict on the case on various grounds for the last many months.
Along with Bhattarai, a director of NRB Surendra Pradhan is also facing charges of irregularities worth nearly Rs 20 million in a financial sector reform programme. nepalnews.com sd Feb 17 08
