Deuba named in graft deals, refuses summons

Nepal's ousted prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was Tuesday summoned to appear before a newly appointed royal commission regarding a controversial multimillion-dollar water project.

The Royal Commission for Corruption Control, nominated by King Gyanendra within a fortnight of his sacking Deuba and assuming absolute power Feb 1, summoned the leader of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party to answer questions about the $464 million Melamchi water project.

The Deuba government is accused of irregularly awarding the NRs.450 million contract for building four approach roads to a Chinese firm.

However, Deuba refused to heed the summons, saying he would not appear before the commission since he considered it to be illegal and unconstitutional.

Deuba's refusal came a day after a minister in his sacked cabinet, Prakash Man Singh, was sent summons to appear before the commission over the same project. Singh also refused to appear, saying the decision to award the contract was taken by an independent board overseeing the foreign donor-funded project.

The commission swung into action in March when it called six ministers of the sacked cabinet for questioning, alleging they had illegally disbursed money from the Prime Minister's Welfare Fund among party cadres. The opposition fears the summons might lead to Deuba's eventual arrest. Sphere: Related Content