The Special Court has identified five crucial pieces of evidence indicating possible involvement of former Minister for Information and Communication Mohan Bahadur Basnet in the corruption case related to the procurement of Telecommunication Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (Teramocs) technology by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).
On Sunday, Basnet appeared before the court, which subsequently demanded a bail amount of Rs 2.5 million. A three-page order issued by a bench of judges Tej Narayan Singh Rai, Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Bidur Koirala outlined five specific grounds suggesting irregularities tied to decisions made during his tenure.
As per the court documents, Basnet had, on September 9, 2017, approved the NTA’s annual program by adding a clause to introduce a system for monitoring international calls and controlling Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic. Notably, this clause was not part of the original draft submitted by the NTA, nor was it reviewed or suggested by ministry officials such as the undersecretary, joint secretary, or secretary. The court found that the minister unilaterally inserted the provision, bypassing legal procedures.
The Telecommunications Act empowers the minister to approve programs proposed by the NTA’s board, but does not authorise them to add new programs independently. The Special Court noted that Basnet’s actions contravened this legal boundary.
During preliminary hearings, Chief Special Government Attorney Mohan Sagar Basnyat, along with Joint Attorneys Gyan Prasad Bhusal and Umakanta Paudel, argued that Basnet’s unauthorised addition marked the beginning of the corruption process. The court accepted this claim, noting discrepancies between the original program and the version approved by Basnet.
The court also took into account Basnet’s statements given to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and the Special Court. Though he denied wrongdoing, he admitted to adding the program detail. The court viewed his failure to consider the legal implications of installing a surveillance mechanism capable of accessing citizens’ private communications as a serious lapse.
Further, the initial complaint filed with the CIAA and a formal directive from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament were regarded as supporting evidence. The parliamentary committee had instructed the CIAA to investigate the procurement and prosecute those responsible, citing significant irregularities.
A key testimony from Tika Prasad Upreti, a then-member of the NTA board, was presented as the fifth piece of evidence. Upreti stated that the controversial provision was included in the program on direct instruction from the minister, without any prior discussion in board meetings.
Upreti’s statement detailed how, during a board meeting, the chairperson cited the minister’s directive to approve a budget for international call monitoring and call bypass systems. He emphasised that such a directive bypassed standard board procedures and raised questions about how such a proposal was introduced without discussion.
The government has since halted implementation of the system, citing potential violations of citizens’ right to privacy. Nonetheless, over Rs 1.11 billion has already been spent on the procurement of the Teramocs technology and associated systems.
Based on these five grounds, the Special Court concluded that there are sufficient indicators of Basnet’s involvement and accordingly imposed a Rs 2.5 million bail.
