May 21, Kathmandu. There is a difference of opinion among the authorities of Nepal Telecommunication Authority regarding the prosecution of the three former ministers and the chief secretary involved in the much-discussed Teramax case.
According to the authority’s special sources, Chief Commissioner Prem Kumar Rai, Commissioners Kishore Silwal and Hari Paudel are in favor of prosecuting the people of the political level involved in one way or another in the Terramax irregularity case.
On the contrary, Commissioner Jai Bahadur Chand and Dr. Sumitra Shrestha Amatya is in favor of filing corruption cases only against officials and employees of Nepal Telecommunication Authority involved in the purchase of Terramax technology without entering the political level.
The names of former Communications Ministers Mohan Basnet, Gokul Baskota and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki have been attached while approving the policy decision and budget in the Teramox case. In that process, the then secretaries Mahendraman Gurung, the current chief secretary Dr. It seems that Baikunth Aryal and Secretary (then Joint Secretary Vinod Prakash Singh) are also involved.
According to the source, the two officials are of the opinion that only the employees of the Telecommunication Authority should be filed, except for the political ones. Three officials, including Chief Commissioner Rai, are of the opinion that those involved in the policy process, including those on the board of directors of the authority, should be prosecuted.
‘Currently, the officials are only in discussion about that file. The decision is being delayed because both parties have come to their own point of view,’ the authority source said, ‘The decision is being delayed so as not to spread the message that there was a difference between the officers of the commission when the case was filed.’
According to sources, Commissioner Jai Bahadur Chand is adamant that former ministers should not be prosecuted. In addition, another commissioner Dr. Sumitra Amatya, on the other hand, has maintained that the political leadership and employees of the ministry should not be sued only on the basis of making a policy decision.
If there is a difference of opinion among the officers of the commission when deciding on a matter where the investigation has been completed, the decision of the majority of the officers will be implemented. But in the last few years, the officials of the constitutional bodies do not prefer to write different opinions in the decision, saying that if the matter of conflicting opinion is included in the decision, it will convey the message of mismatch between the officials.
Authority sources said, ‘This disagreement is now limited to verbal discussion. There is no situation in which both parties have submitted their opinion in writing.’
What level of irregularity?
The Nepal Telecommunication Authority had announced the implementation of Teramax system in order to monitor the revenue from the calls coming into Nepal from different countries and to monitor the internet consumption. The then Minister of Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet has been criticized for deciding to implement the Terramax system without any study.
Gokul Baskota and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who became the Minister of Communication after Basnet, also approved the budget, continuing the old decision to import Terramax technology. Before that, the study conducted by the team of Nepal Telecommunication Authority suggested that a system to have access to confidential information of citizens should not be established without making a law.
After receiving a complaint about Teramox, the authority’s team that started the investigation concluded that the then president of Nepal Telecommunication Authority, Digambar Jha, and his successor, Purushottam Khanal, started the procurement process wrongly.
The then ministers Mohan Basnet, Gokul Baskota and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki were involved in the decision to establish the Teramox system and arrange the budget for it. In that process, secretaries Mahendraman Gurung, Dr. Baikunth Aryal is kneaded. Vinod Prakash Singh, the then joint secretary in the Ministry of Communications, is now the secretary, he has also joined.
“At that time, it was emphatically raised that the political leadership should not be prosecuted on the basis that they were not involved in other irregularities, but only on the basis of making policy decisions,” the authority source said, “But the events after the arrest of Vikal Poudel and Sunil Poudel revealed not only political but also high-level involvement in transactions and bargains.” There are two opinions about it.’
In December 2080, while responding to the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament, the then Chairman of Nepal Telecommunication Authority, Purushottam Khanal, claimed that about 52 million rupees had been paid for Terramax. But according to the report published by the Accounts General last week, only in the financial year 2079/80, 1 billion 10 million rupees were paid in the Teramox contract.
After finding political involvement…
After Vikal and Sunil Paudel were arrested on the same day on 10th January 2080, reports of irregularities in the information technology sector came to the surface. During the analysis of the information in the gadgets of both, the authority found the then Chief Secretary Shankardas Bairagi, the current Chief Secretary Dr. Baikunth Aryal was also found to be somehow aware of various incidents of irregularities.
“During the same investigation, evidence was found that Vikal Paudel and others were involved in the Teramox irregularity, and the then administrative and political leadership of the ministry was also involved in that work,” the authority source said.
According to a security source within the Authority, a technician of the Telecommunication Authority submitted some evidence to the Commission regarding irregularities in Teramox, MDMS, etc., after receiving an assurance that he would not be prosecuted if he cooperated with the investigation.
According to the security sources, the details of the conversation between the two people reveal the involvement of some people from the political, administrative and administrative board of the ministry in the irregularity.
Even months after the investigation was completed, the Authority has not made any decision on the Teramox irregularity file. Chief Commissioner Rai along with Commissioner Silwal and Poudel are in favor of prosecuting those involved in the policy and other decisions of the purchase of Teramox saying that other evidences have also been found.
Commissioners Chand and Amatya are in favor of filing a corruption case only against the employees of Nepal Telecommunication Authority involved in the purchase process of Teramox, saying that only limited employees within the authority are involved in the purchase of equipment and software.
They have been of the opinion that only the employees should be prosecuted, saying that if there is no evidence, the commission will send a message that the commission is biased and there will be wrong practices.
If the officials of the Commission make a decision based on the majority by keeping the differences, those who are involved in the transaction from the policy to the implementation level of the Teramox purchase process will be accused of corruption.
If it is decided to file a case only with those who are involved in the execution level of the Teramox case, then the chief secretary Dr. Dr. Baikunth Aryal, Secretary Vinod Prakash Singh and others will not be prosecuted.
Unreasonable delay
A year has passed since the Authority started its investigation into the irregularities in the procurement of the popular Teramox system. He took the statement of all the employees of Nepal Telecommunication Authority in August 2080. Later, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives investigated this and directed to prosecute those involved.
On 15 February 2080, the Chief Commissioner of Authority, Prem Kumar Rai, who reached the Public Accounts Committee, said that the Teramox investigation process has reached its final stage and the case will be filed in the court soon. He said in the meeting of the committee, ‘I would like to inform you that the investigation has reached its final stage, the results may come within some time.’
After the case reached the final stage, due to intense political interference, the authority did not make any decision about it for some time. Former Congress Ministers Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and Mohan Basnet and UML’s former Minister Gokul Baskota along with Chief Secretary Dr. Because the case against Baikunth Aryal is going on, the authority has applied pressure.
In the process of making a decision about the report after further investigation, there was a difference of opinion between the officials of the commission. Officials of the authority did not want to be contacted and did not want to respond. Spokesperson Narahari Ghimire asked to contact the Information Officer as he was out of office. Information Officer Devi Prasad Thapalia said, ‘The contents of the Commission’s investigations, reports and decisions are confidential. We will not know until the case is filed. What to respond to this?’
