Special Court Orders Technical Assessment of Teramocs in Telecom Graft Case

The Special Court has ordered a technical examination of the Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (Teramocs) procured by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) in connection with an alleged corruption case.

Hearing the case on Tuesday, a joint bench of Special Court judges Narayan Prasad Paudel, Hemanta Rawal and Dilliratna Shrestha issued a three-point order in the case, in which former minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet is among the defendants.

The court directed the formation of a high-level expert committee to verify whether the Teramax system and related equipment procured by the authority meet contractual terms and prescribed quality standards. The committee will conduct a technical inspection and submit a report to the court.

The expert team includes a senior engineer from Pulchowk Engineering Campus as coordinator, a telecommunications and electronics expert professor from the same campus, subject experts from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), a telecommunications expert from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Keshav Gyawali, and a representative of the supplier company.

Although the supplier has claimed that the equipment was installed after receiving payment of Rs 1.116 billion, the court said a technical examination was necessary to determine whether the supplied system complies with contractual specifications and standards.

The court has also sought documents related to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee’s directive to keep the Teramocs procurement process on hold, along with the committee’s report. In addition, it has ordered the NTA to submit the original files related to the Teramax procurement process.

The CIAA has filed the corruption case against former minister Basnet; former NTA chairpersons Digambar Jha and Purushottam Khanal; former members Dhanraj Gyawali and Tikaprasad Upreti; former director Bijay Kumar Raya; former deputy directors Rewatiram Panth, Suresh Basnet, Hiranya Prasad Bastakoti and Achyutananda Mishra; and directors Surendra Lal Hada, Dipesh Acharya and Sandeep Adhikari.

The case also names consultant Vannerize Solutions, its chief executive officer Jamal Anonti, local agent Connection Trade Pvt Ltd, and its chairperson Dilip Kumar Gurung and director Tej Prasad Kharel as defendants.

The anti-graft body has sought recovery of Rs 3.218 billion in damages from the accused.