Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Surendra Prasad Singh, president of the Sarlahi District Committee of Nepali Congress (NC), has resigned from his post.
Singh submitted his resignation at the party’s central office in Sanepa on Friday. In the resignation letter, he said he was stepping down, respecting a court verdict related to a case against him.
“In connection with the most recent case against me, the honorable court has issued its decision. It is my duty to respect the court’s ruling, even though I believe it has treated me unfairly,” Singh said in his resignation letter. “I will continue my legal battle to seek justice on a personal level, while my political struggle will also go on.”
Singh is considered close to NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba.
He had been convicted in a corruption case by both the Special Court and the Supreme Court. In January 2015, the Special Court convicted him in relation to the illegal logging of trees in the Manusmara Irrigation Project area.
Singh challenged the Special Court’s verdict at the Supreme Court, while the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) also appealed, arguing that the punishment handed down by the Special Court was too lenient.
The Supreme Court later dismissed the CIAA’s demand for harsher punishment but upheld Singh’s conviction. It also reduced the fine and sentence to some extent.
At the time, Singh, who was a contractor, and fellow contractor Amiri Rai Yadav were each sentenced to nine months in prison and fined Rs 12.3 million.
The two had been accused of cutting down and selling more than 18,000 sal trees around the Manusmara Irrigation Project.
