KATHMANDU: The bench of Supreme Court Judges Sharanga Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana has ordered that the tax settlement case against former Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Director General Chudamani Sharma be sent back to the Special Court where Sharma was previously convicted.

This follows the Special Court’s verdict on June 1, 2023, sentencing Sharma, along with former Tax Settlement Commission Chairman Lumbadhwaj Mahat and commission member Umesh Prasad Dhakal, to nine years in prison for corruption related to tax irregularities.

The Special Court bench—chaired by Judge Srikanta Paudel with members Yamuna Bhattarai and Shaligram Koirala—found the three guilty of illegally granting discounts on tax dues amounting to Rs 10.96 billion while serving at the commission formed to settle tax disputes. However, they were acquitted in a related case concerning illegal accumulation of wealth.

At that time, the court announced the punishment: Mahat was sentenced to nine years and one month in prison, while Sharma and Dhakal received nine-year sentences each. A fine of Rs 4.10 billion was also imposed.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the corruption case in 2017, accusing the trio of wrongdoing during their tenure at the Tax Settlement Commission.