Five persons were condemned to prison in a fraud case, including former Madhesh Finance Minister Yadav

Former Madhesh Province Finance Minister Bjjay Kumar Yadav has been convicted to nine years and one month in prison by the Special Court in the corruption case of Jhalanath Khanal Institute of Health Sciences.

In the graft case, the court declared Yadav guilty and ruled that Rs 23.53 million must be recovered.

Rewati Prasad Pant, the chairman of the Jhalanath Khanal Health Science Foundation, Nawaraj Bhandari, the general secretary, Niraj Bhandari, the treasurer, and Devendra Rai have all been sentenced to eight years in prison in the same case.

On the other hand, Prem Kumar Shrestha, the former secretary of the Madhesh government, and Man Bahadur Khadka, the former mayor of Lalbandi Municipality, have been found not guilty.

The Commissioner for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a lawsuit in the Special Court on October 8, 2023, against Minister Yadav and Lalbandi Municipality Mayor Man Bahadur Khadka for engaging in corrupt practices with the Jhalanath Khanal Institute of Health Sciences in an illegal partnership that cost the government Rs 179.83 million. Nearly Rs 180 million in compensation was sought by the CIAA.

The Madhesh province administration said in the 2019/2020 budget statement that it will be working with the institute in Lalbandi, Sarlahi, to develop a center for the collection, processing, and production of snake venom.