KATHMANDU: The Special Court has ordered the release of Nepali Congress leader Mohan Basnet on a bail of Rs 2.5 million in connection with the high-profile Teramox procurement corruption case involving over Rs 3.21 billion.

A joint bench comprising Justices Tej Narayan Singh Raya, Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Bidur Koirala issued the release order after recording Basnet’s statement earlier today.

The decision comes nearly two months after the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the case.

On May 15, the CIAA registered a corruption case against Basnet and 15 others at the Special Court, accusing them of large-scale embezzlement during the procurement of the Teramox system for the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

The case alleges serious financial irregularities amounting to Rs 3.21 billion.

Along with Basnet, the accused include former NTA chairperson Digambar Jha and officials Dhanraj Gyawali, Tika Prasad Upreti, Surendra Lal Hada, Dipesh Acharya, Sandeep Adhikari, Achyutananda Mishra, Bijay Kumar Raya, Purushottam Prasad Khanal, Rewati Ram Panth, Suresh Basnet, Hiranya Prasad Bastakoti, Tej Prasad Kharel, Dilip Kumar Gurung, and two private companies.