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

A bench comprising Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar and Members Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ritendra Thapa delivered the verdict on Thursday. Kansakar, former Chairman of the NAC Board of Directors and Tourism Ministry Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari, former NAC Board Director and Secretary Shishir Kumar Dhungana, and then Joint Secretary of the Tourism Ministry Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane were convicted.

Kansakar received a sentence of two years and nine months in prison, while Adhikari was sentenced to one year and nine months. Dhungana and Lamichhane were handed one year and six months each. Additionally, all four were fined Rs 122.59 million and ordered to pay an equal amount as restitution.

The court also convicted three representatives of the aircraft supplier company, sentencing them to one year and six months in prison.

However, former Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi and 26 others, including two foreign nationals, were acquitted.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed charges against 32 individuals, including Shahi, alleging corruption in the procurement process. The anti-graft agency sought Rs 1.471 billion in recovery for the misappropriation involved in acquiring the wide-body aircraft.

The CIAA’s investigation also implicated representatives from the aircraft supplier company, including citizens of Germany, Romania, and Moldova.