KATHMANDU, Sept 19: Former minister and member of the House of Representatives, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is implicated in the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)'s Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (TERAMOCS) procurement case, gave a statement to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) this week. A source close to Karki told Republica that he contacted the CIAA himself after news started circulating about him not appearing to give his statement.

"A lot of news started coming out, so he went to the CIAA himself," a source close to Karki said. The CIAA had summoned Karki for a statement before the National Assembly elections, but he was avoiding the CIAA’s call.

After reports of his disobedience to the CIAA started being published, Karki went to the CIAA and submitted his written statement, a source claims. "He has presented his statement in writing," said a leader close to Karki.

While all the officials involved in the Teramox case have already given their statements, current Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet and former minister Karki had not. The CIAA is in the final stage of filing the case, but the process has been delayed due to the two not providing their statements. Karki has responded after receiving the CIAA's letter.

Two days ago, while leaving a House of Representatives meeting, Karki responded to media reports by stating that he was not evading the situation as portrayed. "I have no comments on this, and I urge you all to engage in ethical journalism," he told reporters on Monday.

He also mentioned that he would address further issues later. "If there are any additional matters, I will talk to you later. You should continue your investigation," former Minister Karki said.

The fact that Karki has visited the CIAA has not been made public yet. "Who came? Who left? That’s not the media’s concern," said an official from the CIAA. "You seem to have a lot of interest in such matters," said the official.

Although former Minister Karki has given his statement to the CIAA, Health Minister Basnet has yet to appear. The CIAA has repeatedly summoned him to provide his statement.

A complaint has been filed at the CIAA alleging that the Teramox system was procured without legal infrastructure and that the Supreme Court's orders were interpreted inappropriately. The Teramox system purchased by the NTA remains unused and has not been put into operation. The CIAA is also reportedly intensifying its investigation into questionable transactions with a tax haven company.

Former secretary and current Chief Commissioner of the National Information Commission, Mahendra Man Gurung, has also appeared at the CIAA and given his statement. Former chairman of the NTA, Digambar Jha, former chairman Purushottam Khanal, and Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs, Binod Singh have also provided their statements to the CIAA. Despite their statements, individuals who have led the ministry at the political level have been neglecting the constitutional commission.

In this case, which involves current Health Minister Basnet, former communications minister Karki, former communications secretary Gurung, the current Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, Federal Affairs Secretary Singh, former chairman of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Digambar Jha, and former chairman Purushottam Khanal, the CIAA has reached the final stages of investigation. Following this, the Public Accounts Committee has also shown interest in the matter.

The Public Accounts Committee of parliament has also tasked the CIAA with the investigation. Before assigning this responsibility to the CIAA, the committee had taken statements in two phases from individuals including Vijay Kumar Roy, Rewati Ram Panth, Suresh Basnet, Hiranya Prasad Bastakoti, Achyuta Nand Mishra, Sandeep Adhikari, Surendra Lal Hada, Kailash Karki, Min Prasad Aryal, Dipesh Acharya, Arjun Ghimire, Surya Prasad Lamichhane, Dhanraj Gyawali, Tikaprasad Upreti, Chudamani Chaulagain, Hem Kumar Shrestha, Ram Mani Duwadi, and Teknath Acharya. The CIAA had only summoned Basnet and Karki, who led the Ministry of Communications at the time, for statements in the final stage of the investigation.

On November 8, 2021, the then communications secretary Baikuntha Aryal wrote a recommendation to Gyanendra Karki regarding a supplementary budget. Based on this, the procurement process moved forward after Minister Karki approved it. Three days after Secretary Aryal submitted the proposal, on November 11, 2021, the then communications minister Karki approved the supplementary budget proposal.

After that, the NTA had the path open to implement the budget. The then communications and information technology minister Basnet advanced the Teramox system procurement process to prevent tax evasion by Ncell. The emphasis in this process was primarily on the then chairman of the NTA, Digambar Jha. After he was implicated in the case, the former chairman Purushottam Khanal resigned.

 
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