Nepal's former royals may face lights-out

Kathmandu, Oct 23 (PTI) Months after loosing his crown, deposed King Gyanendra may face lights-out over unpaid electricity bills to the Maoist-led government, who were instrumental in the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy in Nepal.

The Nepal government is set to serve a 15-day notice
to former King Gyanendra and his relatives demanding payment
of pending N.Rs 7.7 crore in electricity bills, the head of
the country's power company said Thursday.

State-run-Nepal Electricity Authority (N.E.A.) has
decided to cut power supply to palaces and residences of
former king Gyanendra and his relatives if they fail to pay
the pending electricity bill in the next 15 days.

N.E.A. Executive Director Arjun Kumar Karki took the
decision in this regard on October 17, the Kantipur online
quoted a source as saying.

Last year, the royals paid no heed to the request of
the N.E.A. to pay the electricity dues. Since the
reinstatement of democracy in 2006, the state electricity body
has repeatedly asked the former royals to clear the dues. Fed
up with their non-compliance, the N.E.A. has instructed its
distribution centers to implement the decision.

Nepal is facing nearly 30 hours of power cuts per week
owing to a power shortage. In the two-point decision taken by
Karki, N.E.A.'s distribution centers have been ordered to
recover the money within 15 days or to cut electricity, and to
return the generators provided to the palaces by state
electricity body.

The authorities have also decided to put out a notice
in the newspapers asking the former royals to pay their long
due electricity bills. The unpaid electricity bills by the
former king and his relatives amount to a whopping N.Rs 7.7
crore, which includes a fine of N.Rs 1.25 crore.

According to the report, the N.E.A. has written to
former princesses Shova, Dilasa, Sitashma, Helen, Bharati,
Pooja, Jyotsana Devi Basnet, and to former Queen grandmother
Ishwori Rajyalaxmi, who had since expired, to pay the dues.

Besides, N.E.A. had also sent letters in this regard
to the Comptroller Department, Chhauni Bangla, Nirmal Niwas,
Nagarjun Royal Forest, Narayanhiti Kharcha Adda, Himagriha
Pokhara, Ratna Mandir in Pokhara, Diyalo Bangla in Bharatpur,
and Rani Durbar in Hetauda, among others.

Gyanendra's popular older brother Birendra was
slaughtered in a palace massacre. That 2001 massacre -- most
of the royal family was slain by the then crown prince
Dipendra, who was allegedly fuelled by a cocktail of drugs and
alcohol -- was what led Gyanendra to ascend the throne.

Gyanendra was at the centre of many conspiracy
theories linking him to the killings, and his unpopularity
only deepened when he sacked the government and embarked on a
period of autocratic rule in early 2005.

The unpopular monarchy was abolished on May 28 by a
the Constituent Assembly that was elected in April as part of
a peace process with former Maoist rebels who fought a 10-year
insurgency demanding a republic and a new constitution.

The monarchy's end was the culmination of a two-year
peace process that saw Nepal's communist rebels transformed
from feared insurgents into the country's dominant political
force. The Maoists now lead a coalition government that is
tasked with writing a new constitution. PTI R.B.S.
RKM