KATHMANDU, March 28: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 20 people over irregularities in the purchase of the Mobile Device Management System (MDMS).

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

Similarly, the CIAA has implicated Deputy Director Suresh Basnet, Deputy Director Rewati Ram Pant, Deputy Director Sandeep Adhikari, and Kavindraraj Malla from the Internal Audit Branch, Planning and Management Information System Branch, and Permit Management Branch of NTA in the corruption case.

The case filed at the special court seeks compensation of Rs 919.9 million from the accused. The MDMS system was slated for implementation following the government’s announcement in the annual budget of Fiscal Year 2014/15 to curb tax evasion by mobile sets brought into Nepal through illicit means.

Although scheduled for implementation in July 2015, delays pushed the process to 2018. NTA's separate regulation for MDMS procurement, deemed controversial by an investigation committee under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, has led to accusations of extreme negligence and irresponsibility against the implicated parties. The investigation committee noted that work originally expected to conclude in about six months remains unfinished.