KATHMANDU: Former King Gyanendra Shah’s aide and spokesperson, Phanindra Prasad Pathak, was summoned by police on Friday after referring to Shah as “Shree 5”, a royal title reserved for reigning monarchs, in a public statement.
According to Kathmandu District Police spokesperson SP Apilraj Bohora, Pathak was not arrested but called in to clarify the legal basis and constitutional validity of using such terminology.
“He was not taken into custody. We called him to understand the rationale behind addressing Gyanendra Shah as ‘Shree 5’ and portraying him as a reigning monarch, which the Constitution does not recognize,” SP Bohora said.
Pathak, a former secretary, had issued a statement recently using the title “Shree 5 Maharajadhiraj Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev”, sparking questions about its constitutionality.
Nepal’s 2015 Constitution abolishes the monarchy and makes no provision for continuing royal titles.
The incident has triggered political reactions. Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) Chair Kamal Thapa called the police action “ridiculous and narrow-minded.”
“Calling Gyanendra Shah ‘Shree 5’ is neither unconstitutional nor unnatural. Though monarchy no longer exists officially, he remains the last king of Nepal,” Thapa said, defending the use of the title as a matter of tradition and respect.
The controversy comes amid simmering monarchist sentiments in certain political quarters, though the monarchy remains formally abolished and Nepal a federal democratic republic.
Comment