The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday convicted former joint-secretary Ananda Prasad Khanal of corruption slapping 15 months jail sentence and a penalty of Rs 12.1 million along with confiscation of property worth the same amount.

A division bench of justices Kalyan Shrestha and Bharat Bahadur Karki made the verdict saying that Khanal amassed property by abusing his authority.

Khanal, the former Director General of the Department of Roads, had filed a review petition after the Special Court on June 3, 2005 handed him a jail term of one year and also slapped a fine of Rs 12 million. The Commission for Investigation of  Abuse of Authority had filed a case against Shrestha in special court on 23 February 2003 saying that misused around 30 million rupees by abusing authority.

In its verdict, the SC said Khanal's property during the check period--one's tenure in service--was Rs 23.6 million. According to the verdict, Khanal made every possible effort to increase his source of income so that he could justify his lifestyle.

The bench also drew attention of the CIAA to carry out objective investigation on the corruption pointing out errors in the investigation process of the CIAA. nepalnews.com