Corruption Case Against Former Nepal Telecom MD Sunil Poudel and 17 Others Scheduled for Hearing

The hearing for the corruption case against 18 individuals, including the former Managing Director of Nepal Telecommunications Company Limited (Nepal Telecom), Sunil Poudel, has been scheduled.

The case is set for hearing on Monday before the bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Judges Dilliratan Shrestha and Bidur Koirala.

The hearing for this case has been postponed twice after the plaintiff's counsel filed petitions twice and the defense counsel filed petitions twice. The defendants, including former Nepal Telecom Managing Director Poudel, are accused of corruption through collusion in the upgrade of Nepal Telecom's billing system. A claim of Rs 330 million has been sought against them.

On Poush 6, 2068 BS, former Managing Director Poudel and others signed an agreement with the Chinese company AsiaInfo Linkage Technology for the Convergent Real-Time Billing and Customer Support (CRTBCS) billing system.

The objective of this system was to integrate telecommunication services operating on various platforms electronically, such as GSM mobile, fiber, internet, leased line, wireline, and wireless broadband, onto a single platform, and to calculate and update charges in real-time through real-time billing.

As per the procurement agreement, the arrangement stipulated that services could be availed for up to six years under the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC), and the AMC fee was to be paid at a decreasing rate of 5% annually.