Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Political leaders elected to shape policy are increasingly embroiled in corruption scandals. The latest in this series is Nepali Congress leader and member of the House of Representatives Mohan Bahadur Basnet.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday filed a corruption case against Basnet and 15 others after finding irregularities in the procurement of the Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (Teramocs).
Basnet has been accused of abusing his authority when he was serving as the Minister for Communications and Information Technology by unilaterally adding unproposed programs, causing financial harm to the institution, and failing to prepare cost estimates or a procurement plan for the Teramocs purchase.
The CIAA has filed a case against the 16 at the Special Court in Kathmandu. Basnet’s parliamentary position has been automatically suspended after the chargesheet was filed. He was elected to the House of Representatives from Sindhupalchok-2 constituency in the 2022 election and is considered close to Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba. Of late, he was seen closer to the anti-establishment faction of the party led by Dr Shekhar Koirala.
CIAA had recorded a statement from Basnet and another former communication minister, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, in January last year. At that time, Basnet was serving as the Minister for Health and Population.
Basnet was the communications minister when the Teramocs procurement process began, while Karki held the post when the purchase agreement was signed. Karki and UML leader Gokul Baskota, who were also implicated in the case, have been cleared of charges.
Basnet is not the only sitting MP entangled in corruption. The parliamentary position of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Ravi Lamichhane also remains suspended, given his alleged involvement in embezzling cooperative funds. Although he was released on bail, he is now detained in Rupandehi District Prison after the Tulsipur High Court overturned a lower court’s order to release him on bail of Rs 10 million. A habeas corpus petition claiming his detention is unlawful is under review at the Supreme Court.
UML’s then-Vice President and lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has been in custody since June 2023 for his alleged involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugees scam.
Nepali Congress leader Balkrishna Khand, who was also implicated in the Bhutanese refugees scam, has been released on bail of Rs 30 million following a Patan High Court order. The case against him is pending at the Kathmandu District Court.
Likewise, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmaker Geeta Basnet, who is also tied to cooperative fraud, is currently absconding. She has informed the Federal Parliament Secretariat that she is undergoing medical treatment.
An arrest warrant was issued for her in April last year for allegedly investing cooperative funds in her resort. She has been absent from parliamentary meetings since January 31, 2024.
