Special Court Sentences Former NITC Executive Director Sunil Paudel to 8.5 Years in Prison in Bribery Case

Kathmandu. The Special Court has sentenced former Executive Director of the National Information Technology Center (NITC), Sunil Paudel, to eight and a half years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 15.43 million after finding him guilty of accepting bribes disguised as consultancy fees during a government procurement process.

A bench comprising Sudarshan Dev Bhatt, Hemant Rawal, and Dilli Ratna Shrestha on Thursday issued the sentencing following Paudel's conviction in the corruption case.

The court also sentenced Deepak Anand Singh, the Nepal representative of cybersecurity company F5, to eight years in prison and imposed an identical fine of Rs 15.43 million.

According to the verdict, Paudel and Singh agreed to exchange a bribe of USD 280,000, equivalent to Rs 30.85 million at the prevailing exchange rate at the time, in connection with the procurement of Security Application and Network Equipment for the National Information Technology Center (NITC).

The court said forensic analysis of a laptop containing a backup of Paudel's seized iPhone uncovered chat conversations showing negotiations over the contract value and the amount of the bribe, which became key evidence in the case.

Paudel was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002. As the offence was committed while serving as a public official, the court imposed an additional six months' imprisonment under Section 24 of the Act, bringing his total sentence to eight and a half years.

The court further ordered both Paudel and Singh to deposit Rs 617,008 each into the Victim Relief Fund.

However, the verdict stated that the court could not order confiscation of the bribe money because the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) failed to produce sufficient evidence identifying where the money had been deposited or stored.

This marks another conviction for Paudel, who is already serving a prison sentence at Dillibazar Prison after being found guilty in separate corruption cases involving the National Payment Gateway project and the accumulation of illicit wealth.

The court concluded that Paudel had accepted a bribe worth Rs 30.85 million (USD 280,000) from a foreign company in exchange for influencing the government procurement process.

पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: असार ३२, २०८३ १७:६