The Special Court has acquitted all 18 defendants, including former Nepal Telecom managing director Sunil Paudel, in a corruption case related to the company's billing system contract.
On Thursday, a bench comprising Judges Narayan Prasad Paudel and Bidur Koirala cleared all defendants of the charges.
Those acquitted include Nepal Telecom’s former managing director Paudel, former chief commercial officer Sangita Pahadee Aryal, Pratibha Baidya, Rajendra Shrestha, and 14 others.
It could not be established that the defendants had acted with malicious intent to cause unlawful financial loss to Nepal Telecom or to gain personal benefits, the court ruled.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the corruption case against Paudel and the other 17 defendants on June 8, 2025, accusing them of committing corruption by extending the contract for repairing Nepal Telecom's billing system.
The CIAA had alleged losses totaling Rs 334.82 million and sought recovery of that amount from the 18 defendants.