Bajhang, June 18 -- On April 10, the Special Court handed down a landmark ruling convicting six individuals, including the acting chief administrative officer of Bitthadchir Rural Municipality in Bajhang, after finding them guilty of financial irregularities and deep-seated corruption during the execution of a local playground project.

The court found that Rs1.46 million had been misappropriated during the construction of a sports ground in Bitthad, which lies in ward 1 of the rural municipality. The full bench of judges Narayan Prasad Paudel, Dilliratna Shrestha and Bidur Koirala convicted former administrative officer Chakradev Bhatta, sub-engineer Ganesh Raj Upadhyaya and account officer Harkadev Joshi, along with officials of the use...