CIAA files corruption case against 20 individuals over MDMS purchase irregularities

KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has initiated legal proceedings against 20 individuals on charges of corruption related to the purchase of the Mobile Device Management System (MDMS).

Dhan Bahadur Karki, spokesperson for the special court, disclosed that former Chairman of Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) Digambar Jha, along with former Senior Director Anandraj Khanal and current Directors Dipesh Acharya, Surendra Hada, and Achutanand Mishra, are among the defendants named in the corruption case.

Additionally, the CIAA has implicated Deputy Directors Suresh Basnet, Rewati Ram Pant, Sandeep Adhikari, and Kavindraraj Malla from various branches of NTA, including Internal Audit, Planning and Management Information System, and Permit Management, in the alleged corruption.

The case, filed at the special court, seeks compensation of Rs 919.9 million from the accused. The MDMS procurement was initially intended to combat tax evasion associated with mobile sets imported into Nepal through illicit channels, as outlined in the government’s annual budget for Fiscal Year 2014/15.

Despite being scheduled for implementation in July 2015, delays persisted, pushing the process to 2018. Controversy arose over NTA’s separate regulation for MDMS procurement, prompting an investigation committee under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to highlight extreme negligence and irresponsibility on the part of the accused.

The investigation committee’s findings revealed that the project, initially expected to conclude within six months, remained unfinished, fueling accusations of misconduct and mismanagement against the implicated individuals.