Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Special Court has sentenced Mohan Bahadur Basnet, the mayor of Nagarjun Municipality of Kathmandu, to 11 years in prison and imposed a fine of over Rs 260 million after finding him guilty in corruption and money laundering cases.
A division bench of Judges Tek Narayan Kunwar and Ram Bahadur Thapa announced the quantum of sentence on Monday, handing Basnet a prison term of eight years and three months for corruption and an additional three years for money laundering.
The Special Court ruled that Basnet accepted Rs 92.2 million in bribes.
Along with Basnet, Raju Prasad Kandel and his companies, Padma Colony Pvt Ltd and Padma Merchant Company Pvt Ltd, have been convicted of corruption-related offenses.
According to the verdict, each of the four defendants must pay Rs 23 million in fines. Basnet and Kandel have been handed eight years of jail time each. Since Basnet committed the crime while holding a public office, he has been handed an additional 3-month jail term.
Basnet was also found guilty of laundering Rs 131.2 million, for which he was handed down a three-year sentence and a fine of Rs 262.5 million—double the amount laundered.
Furthermore, based on legal provisions for offenses committed by public officials, the court added an extra three months and 18 days of imprisonment, along with an additional fine of Rs 26.2 million.
The court also directed Basnet to deposit Rs 10.5 million into the Victim Relief Fund. Padma Colony, Padma Merchant Company and Kandel are each required to pay Rs 922,469 as per the Crime Victims Protection Act, 2018.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the charges against Basnet on December 29.
