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Minister For Information And Communications Gupta Landed In Jail
By KTM Metro Reporter
February 21, 2012: the scene of the police taking Minister for Information and Communications Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta reminds how a stroke of a pen of justices could change the destiny of a person from the honorable minister to a culprit.
Hearing on the case filed by the Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on amassing assets disproportionate to his earnings by the incumbent Minister for Information and Communications Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta in his previous incarnations of minister, a division bench of Justices such as Sushila Karki and Tarka Raj Bhatta has awarded him one and a half years of jail term and imposed on him the fine of Rs 8.4 millions.
After the CIAA has lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court of Nepal to review the ruling of the Special Court that had acquitted Mr. Gupta from the crime of accumulating the wealth disproportionate to his earnings, the division bench of the Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled to sentence Mr. Gupta for one and a half years jail term and fine him Rs 8.4 millions today.
The CIAA had filed a case at the Special Court in 2003 charging the then Nepali Congress leader Gupta with the accumulation of assets by abusing his position as minister, and his property was not at par with his income sources but the Special Court acquitted him in 2007, ‘The Himalayan Times’ writes today.
Mr. Gupta is the Chairman of Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-Republican: breakaway of the Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic, and is one of the coalition partners of the current coalition government of UCPN-Maoist and UDMF.
He joined Madhesi People’s Rights Forum just before the Constituent Assembly election in 2008 quitting the Nepali Congress. Then, the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum broke up into Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-Nepal led by Upendra Yadav and Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic led by Bijaya Gacchedhar. He then set up his Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-Republican taking 13 lawmakers from Mr. Gacchedhar.
Now, Mr. Gupta will enjoy the jail life slightly more than a year, as the Supreme Court of Nepal has the provision for reducing the sentence for a quarter of the total sentence if the culprit surrenders to the court. Mr. Gupta did it cleverly. If he does not pay the Rs 8.4 million fine then he might need to stay in jail for a longer period.
Speaking to the reporters before going to the jail in Kathmandu, "The verdict has come as a punishment to the Madhes movement; I will not be able to appear before you [media] as a political leader for some time; but one-and-half year does not mean anything for a political movement," nepalnews.com quoted Mr. Gupta.
The division bench of justices such as Sushila Karki and Tarkaraj Bhatta of the Supreme Court of Nepal in its ruling has ordered to confiscate the property amounting to the fine of Rs 8.4 million imposed on Minister Gupta following the Article 20 (2) of the Corruption Control Act of 2059 BS, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of February 22, 2012 writes.
The Supreme Court in its ruling also has ordered to take actions against three judges of the Special Court through the Judicial Commission, as they have misjudged the case neglecting the evaluations of the evidences and acquitting Mr. Gupta from the corruption case; the then judges of the Special Court that had misjudged the corruption case were Bhupadhoj Adhikari, Cholendra Shumsher Rana, and Komalnath Sharma ‘gorkhapatera’ of February 22, 2012 writes.
Adhikari is now retired from the judicial service while Sharma and Rana are still serving as appellate court judges. The bench of Adhikari, Sharma and Rana had given clean chit to a number of former ministers, high-ranking police officers and civil servants on corruption charges filed by the Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Those acquitted then included former minister and Nepali Congress leader Govinda Raj Joshi, former minister and leader of RPP Rabindra Nath Sharma and former Home Ministry secretary Padam Prasad Pokharel, Defense Ministry secretary Chakra Bandhu Aryal and former Inspector Generals of Police Motilal Bohara and Achyut Krishna Kharel, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of February 22, 2012 writes.
The Supreme Court has asked the Special Court to review the case of Govinda Raj Joshi. Rabindra Nath Sharma has been dead. Updated on February 22, 2012.
