Kathmandu, June 12:

The Special Court today found under-secretary of the Customs Department, Ganesh Prasad Shrestha, innocent in a corruption case lodged by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) five years ago.

A three-member bench of justices Bhoop Dhoj Adhikary, Komal Nath Sharma and Cholendra SJB Rana issued the clean chit to Shrestha. “There is no gap between his legitimate income and the property he belongs; thus, he deserves a clean chit as there is no ground to justify the charge sheet,” the bench said. The CIAA had charged him of amassing disproportionate property amounting to Rs 18.6 million without his sources of legitimate income and sought the Special Court’s verdict to seize his property and punish him.