Kathmandu : The Special Court has convicted five individuals, including former Finance Minister of Madhes, Bijaya Kumar Yadav, in a corruption case related to the Health Science Academy established under the name of former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.

Former Minister Yadav has been sentenced to nine years and one month in prison and fined Rs 35,166,600. Additionally, the Court has ordered the recovery of Rs 13,529,386 from him.

Similarly, Rewati Prasad Pant, Chairman of the Institution; Navaraj Bhandari, General Secretary; Neeraj Bhandari, Treasurer; and Devendra Rai have each been sentenced to eight years in prison.

However, the then-Mayor of Lalbandi Municipality, Man Bahadur Khadka, and the then-Secretary of the Madhes government, Prem Kumar Shrestha, have been acquitted.

On June 25, a bench comprising Supreme Court Chair Tek Narayan Kunwar, Tej Narayan Singh Rai, and Murari Babu Shrestha announced the convictions of the five, including former Minister Yadav.

The verdict on their sentences was scheduled for July 9.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the corruption case against seven individuals after discovering they had taken Rs 179,833,000 without initiating the promised project.

The CIAA filed the case on October 8, 2023.