Probe Commission Summons Former Acting CJ

The commission formed to probe use of excessive force by the disbanded Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC), on Thursday summoned former justice of the Supreme Court Bhairav Prasad Lamsal.Lamsal is currently an ex-officio member of the Judicial Council and he had allowed the RCCC to arrest Pyuthan District Court judge Birendra Kumar Karna when he (Lamsal) was the Acting Chief Justice.

The commission has given Lamsal three days' to present himself before it and record his statement. "We want to know from him why he had allowed the RCCC to arrest Karna, since he knew that the RCCC was an unconstitutional body," a member of the commission, Ram Prasad Gaudel, said.

The commission has also summoned government attorneys Prem Raj Karki, Rajendra Pokhrel and an official of the National Investigation Department Krishna Prasad Sapkota to present themselves before the panel within seven days.

The commission has been interrogating a number of police officials who had arrested former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at midnight. According to Gaudel, the commission interrogated SSP Binod Singh and Prakash Kunwar, SP Madhav Khanal and 25 other police personnel in this connection.