Jagdish Kharel Denies Involvement in Smart Telecom Scandal, Vows Resignation if Proven

Kathmandu. Ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party MP and former Minister of Communications Jagdish Kharel has objected to the news published linking him to the Smart Telecom scam.

Speaking during an emergency session of the House of Representatives on Monday, he announced that he would retire from political life if his involvement in the scam was proven.

MP Kharel claimed that the news linking him was misleading and asserted that such propaganda was spread with the intention of defaming him and his party. He clarified that he never held a meeting with the representatives of that company while he was the Minister of Communications.

'The news written about me being secretly fled to Switzerland in connection with this 30 billion fraud case of Smart Telecom is so meaningless and cheap that it is not even appropriate to call it C-grade journalism,' Kharel said.

Stating that the published news has insulted his honor, reputation, and the entire parliament, he said he wanted to record the matter in the parliament.

He added, challenging, 'If I have done anything wrong, even a single meeting or a single file, in the Smart Telecom case, I am ready to retire from entire political life forever.' Kharel strongly condemned such news being disseminated with the malicious intent of damaging his reputation.