Dissatisfied with the verdict on the Gyalpoizhing land allotment case, the Home Minister, Minjur Dorji, was the last to appeal to the High court, yesterday.
He was accused of official misconduct and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment with the option of paying thrimthue in lieu of the prison term.
The Home Minister’s Legal Counsel, Jamyang Sherab Wangdi, said Lyonpo Minjur’s criminal intent was never proven during the course of the hearing at the Mongar district court.
“The judgment clearly says there is no conflict of interest and the land sizes were given as per sizes approved by the government, so the judgment, basically, says criminal intent is absent and there is no conflict of interest. Usually under official misconduct, you need to prove criminal intent”, says Mr. Wangdi.
A committee member, Tashi Sherpa, said all the land allotment committee members submitted an appeal letter to the Monggar court on the day the verdict was passed.
