Lower Court convicts Bhandari, punishment on Monday

Gangtok, May 26 (UNI) In a major setback to Congress party, a lower court today convicted former Sikkim chief minister and SPCC president Nar Bahadur Bhandari in a disproportionate asset case.

District and sessions court (East and North), Gangtok, which also acted as the special CBI Court found Mr Bhandari, who is also president of Congress Party, Sikkim unit, guilty of possessing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income and convicted him.

Special CBI judge S W Lepcha, found Mr Bhandari guilty under section 5 (2) read with 51 (E) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.

The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Monday, the judge announced.

Mr Bhandari alongwith a host of his party colleagues was present at the Court when the judgement was announced.

The CBI had registered the case against Bhandari in 1984 alleging that while holding the office of the Chief Minister from October 1979 to May 1984, he had acquired disproportionate assets.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet in 1994 against Bhandari accusing him of acquiring assets in his and his family members' name to the extent of Rs 15.2 lakh. The assets, as reported by police, included a five storied building (Primula Cottage) in Gangtok and other household items. The land on which Primula Cottage is situated was allocated to Bhandari by the then ruler of Sikkim when he appealed to him that ''he (Bhandari) was a poor man and has no house to live in''.

Mr Bhandari later gifted the land to his wife (Dil Kumari Bhandari) and the building was constructed after he became the Chief Minister.

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