Nepal's sacked PM appeals against jail term

KATHMANDU, Monday (Reuters) - Former Nepali prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, sacked by King Gyanendra, has asked the nation's top court to overturn an anti-graft body's decision to jail him for two years for corruption, his party said on Monday.

It said a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Sunday against the Royal Commission for Corruption Control that jailed Deuba, accusing him of embezzling $5.3 million in awarding a contract to supply drinking water to Kathmandu.

"The commission is unconstitutional. Therefore, its decision to punish Deuba is illegal," Bimalendra Nidhi, a senior member of Deuba's Nepali Congress (Democratic) Party, told Reuters.

"The charges against Deuba are false and the decision is an act of political vendetta," Nidhi said.