The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has approached the Supreme Court with an appeal, stating that the verdict of the special court in the corruption case of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project is flawed.

The Authority on Sunday appealed against the decision of the Special Court in the case against three former secretaries Sanjay Sharma, Gajendra Kumar Thakur and Bhim Upadhyay and three contractor companies and 18 others in the Melamchi project case, arguing that the punishment should be as per the demands.

Two years ago, the Authority had filed a corruption case against 15 individuals and companies, including then Secretary Gajendra Thakur, demanding Rs. 7.5 billion in damages. Dismissing the case last year, the Special Court had found three employees, including former Secretary Thakur, one contractor and three contractor companies guilty and acquitted the rest. The Authority has argued that the decision of the Special Court is contrary to the facts and evidence revealed by the investigation and the precedent established by the Supreme Court, and that the defendant should be sentenced to imprisonment and fined as per the demands. The special court had sentenced former secretary Thakur and then executive director of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee Ramchandra Devkota and Suryaraj Kandel to a fine of Rs 100 million 1061 thousand 75 and imprisonment for 8 years and one month each. Consultant Iptisa team leader Shiva Kumar Sharma was sentenced to 8 years in prison and a fine of Rs 295 million 65 thousand 603. A fine of Rs 62 million 21 million 93 thousand 596 was imposed on consultancy companies Iptisa and Bets (BETS). Similarly, the court had found another contractor, Italian construction company CMC, guilty of corruption and ordered it to recover Rs 261 million 116 thousand 991.