The Special Court has convicted former General Manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), Sugat Ratna Kansakar, and three other officials for corruption in the procurement of wide-body aircraft for the national carrier.

The verdict, delivered by a bench led by Special Court Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar and Members Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ritendra Thapa, found Kansakar guilty alongside Shankar Prasad Adhikari (former Chairman of the NAC Board and Tourism Ministry Secretary), Shishir Kumar Dhungana (former Secretary and NAC Board Member), and Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane (then Joint Secretary at the Tourism Ministry).

Kansakar was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison. Adhikari received a one-year and nine-month sentence, while Dhungana and Lamichhane were each sentenced to one year and six months in jail.

Additionally, the court imposed a fine of NPR 122.59 million on all four convicts and ordered them to pay an equivalent amount in penalties.

Three representatives of the aircraft supplier company, all foreign nationals, were also convicted and sentenced to one year and six months in prison.

However, the court acquitted former Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi and 26 others, including two foreign nationals, who were initially charged in the case.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a corruption case against 32 individuals, including former Minister Shahi, accusing them of financial irregularities in the aircraft procurement. The CIAA had sought to recover NPR 1.471 billion, alleging misappropriation of funds during the deal.

The anti-graft body had also implicated representatives of the aircraft supplier company from Germany, Romania, and Moldova in its charge sheet.