(Bloomberg) -- Thai prosecutors delayed a decision on whether to indict former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a royal insult case over comments he made almost a decade ago that could land the influential politician in fresh legal trouble after his return last year from a 15-year exile. 

Prosecutors were still investigating the charges and will summon the 74-year-old former premier on May 29 to hear their decision, Prayut Bejraguna, a spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General, told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday. Thaksin, who was previously accused by police of insulting the monarchy in an interview he gave in Seoul in 2015, did not appear before prosecutors earlier in the morning as originally scheduled. 

“The delay is due to authorities’ fault, as the judicial process wasn’t completed in time,” Prayut said. “Investigators didn’t complete their probe report before April 10, so the attorney-general couldn’t hand down a decision.” 

Next month, the attorney general will decide whether to overturn an earlier decision by his predecessor in 2016 to prosecute Thaksin over a possible breach of Article 112 of Thailand’s penal code, which carries a maximum jail term of 15 years for each offense of defaming the monarchy. Legal process was delayed at the time as Thaksin was outside the country after fleeing Thailand in 2008 to avoid corruption charges. 

If the attorney general decides to indict Thaksin, the controversial politician can still seek a bail before trial, Prayut said. 

Shortly after Thaksin’s return from exile, King Maha Vajiralongkorn commuted his eight-year jail terms — handed down for several corruption cases — to just one year. Thaksin spent only hours in prison, serving the rest of the time in a hospital where he said he was being treated for various ailments. He was released on parole in February after serving only half of the commuted one-year sentence. 

A controversial but enduring figure in Thai politics, Thaksin is the head of the Shinawatra clan that has dominated national elections only to be routinely unseated from power. His homecoming was seen as part of a deal with the military establishment that ousted him in 2006 and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in 2014.  

Former property tycoon Srettha Thavisin was elected as the new prime minister hours after Thaksin’s return to Thailand that ended monthslong political deadlock. Thaksin’s youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra took the helm of Pheu Thai last year, further strengthening the clan’s grip on power. 

(Updates with details throughout.)

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