Kathmandu, February 27:

The Supreme Court (SC) has scheduled a hearing on the corruption case against suspended governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Bijaya Nath Bhattarai and executive director Surendra Man Pradhan on March 11.

The apex court scheduled the hearing after receiving the full-text judgment from the Special Court today, SC spokesperson Til Prasad Shrestha said. The Special Court had transferred the case to the apex court on February 17 after the Special Court judges could not decide the case. Bhattarai and Pradhan were present at the apex court to face the trial.

According to Shrestha, a single bench of SC Justice will look into the case and take decision.

On June 29, 2007, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had filed the case against Bhattarai and Pradhan claiming that they had caused a loss of Rs 30 million by terminating a contract signed with a joint venture of Lloyd Hill Oakton, USA, in association with KPMG, Sri Lanka.

The agreement was signed on February 6, 2006; it was terminated nine months later.

The anti-graft constitutional body had sought a two-year jail term and recovery of Rs 24.5 million from Bhattarai and Pradhan as per Clause 8(3) of Corruption Prevention Act, 2002.