Kathmandu, May 4 -- Former executive director of the Security Printing Centre Bikal Paudel has been convicted of corruption in the procurement of equipment for the state-owned printing facility.

A full bench of the Special Court comprising Chairperson Tek Narayan Kunwar and justices Tej Narayan Singh Rai and Ram Bahadur Thapa handed Paudel a sentence of one year and six months in prison on Sunday.

The court ordered him to pay a fine of Rs135.85 million-the same amount he was found to have caused in losses to the state-and imposed an additional six-month prison term due to his leadership position at the time.

Meanwhile, in the same case, Akbar Hussain, CEO of Max International Pvt Ltd-the supplier firm-was handed an identical sentence o...