- Nepal's Special Court acquitted former Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet in the TERAMOCS corruption case, ruling that the charges against him could not be proven.
- Three former Nepal Telecommunications Authority officials were convicted and sentenced to six months in prison and 50,000 NPR fines each.
- Former NTA Chairman Digambar Jha received an additional six-month sentence for committing the offense while holding public office.
- No specific embezzlement recovery amount was claimed because the court could not explicitly quantify direct financial losses to the state coffer.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Special Court has acquitted Mohan Bahadur Basnet, a prominent leader of the Nepali Congress and former Minister for Information and Communications Technology, in the high-profile TERAMOCS procurement corruption case.
A division bench comprising Judges Hemanta Rawal, Dilliratna Shrestha, and Umesh Koirala handed down the verdict on Monday, ruling that the corruption charges leveled against Basnet could not be proven.
Three Convicted: Jail Time and Fines
While the former minister was cleared, the court found three former top officials of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) guilty.
Digambar Jha (Former Chairman, NTA)
Dhanraj Gyawali (Former Member, NTA)
Tika Upreti (Former Member, NTA)
The Sentence: The court sentenced all three individuals to six months in prison and imposed a fine of NPR 50,000 each. Furthermore, the bench ruled that former Chairman Digambar Jha will serve an additional six months of imprisonment for committing the offense while holding a public office.
Why No Recovery Amount (Bigo) Was Claimed
The court noted that because a direct financial loss to the state coffer could not be explicitly quantified and proven, no specific embezzlement recovery amount (Bigo) was claimed. Consequently, the sentencing was limited to imprisonment and standard fines.
Background of the TERAMOCS Case
The Telecommunication Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (TERAMOCS) was an initiative introduced by the NTA to monitor telecommunication traffic and curb illegal international call bypassing.
However, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case at the Special Court against former Minister Basnet and the NTA officials. The anti-graft body accused them of bypassing legal procurement processes and causing financial losses to the state.
With this Special Court verdict, the first legal chapter of the widely discussed TERAMOCS scam draws to a close. The exact legal interpretations and grounds for the decision are expected to become clearer once the full text of the verdict is officially released.
