Kathmandu: Nepal's isolated King Gyanendra has missed a deadline to answer questions by an inquiry panel on this year's crackdown on pro-democracy protests in which at least 22 people were killed, a committee member said on Thursday.
A powerful panel, set up by Nepal's multi-party government, sent questions to the monarch last week, asking him what he knew about the bloody crackdown on anti-king activists in April and gave him until Wednesday to answer. More than 5,000 people were wounded in the action.
"He has not responded," Harihar Birahi said.
"We have taken this as his refusal to answer. We are now free to submit a report on the basis of available evidence. There is no room left for him to complain now," he added.
It was not immediately clear what action the monarch would face next. The panel, headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, is due to submit its findings later this month.
King Gyanendra gave in to the mass protests and handed power back to the political parties, more than a year after he had taken it.
The protests were organised by Nepal's seven main political parties and supported by the Maoist rebels, who have been fighting against the king and to turn Nepal into a communist republic since 1996.
The conflict has killed more than 13,000 people. This was the first in the history of the deeply-religious country that the king, who was traditionally revered as an incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu, was questioned.
Nearly 300 people have so far been interrogated by the panel, including ministers of the former royalist cabinet.
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"Many people, including ministers in the royalist government, told us during the investigation that the king, as head of the then council of ministers, should take responsibility for the action," Birahi said.
"We sent the questionnaire to him to answer these allegations because even Saddam Hussein has got an opportunity to explain his position," he said, referring to the deposed Iraqi leader.
"It is surprising that he missed the opportunity," Birahi added.
The questionnaire submitted to the king was the latest in a series of moves to humble the monarch. He was a hard-nosed businessman with interests ranging from tobacco to tea before being crowned in 2001 after a massacre in the royal palace in which the then king, and most of the royal family members, were killed.
The killings, which shocked the world, were blamed on the then king's son, but questions about the incident linger.
Soon after the king stepped down, the interim government swiftly slashed his powers, including his key control over the army, which has traditionally been loyal to the palace.
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