KATHMANDU, Aug 23: The Supreme Court pronounced on Sunday that Parmananda Jha must be administered a fresh oath of office and secrecy of vice president in Nepali language within seven days. Jha´s vice presidency would terminate if he does not abide by the SC ruling within the stipulated deadline. [break]
“…He should be given the opportunity to take oath within seven days. He would no longer remain the vice president if he does not take oath as per the Article 36 (I) (2) of the Interim Constitution and this court´s order on June 24 [within the stipulated time],” the court said in an order issued by a five-member full bench.
Jha, who has rejected the nullification of his previous oath-taking in Hindi on June 23, 2008, was not available for comments. But his lawyer Mithilesh Kumar Singh told myrepublica.com that Jha would take a decision after consulting his lawyers on Monday. “He has called us for legal advice Monday morning,” said Singh, “He would take decision after consulting us.”
The SC order has offered a panacea to the government supported by three Madhesi parties and other political parties in the coalition, which failed to convince Jha to take a fresh oath after his previous oath was nullified on June 24. The court canceled Jha´s oath taken in Hindi saying that the oath was unconstitutional. However, Jha refused to abide by the court order. Jha´s continued refusal to accept the court´s order forced the government last week to take a decision to table a bill to amend the constitution so as to allow the president and vice president to take oath in the language of their choice. But the Sunday´s court order is likely to prompt Madhesi parties, especially Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF) to launch protests.
The court had nullified Jha´s oath in Hindi language and expressed its hope that Jha would respect its order. But Jha, who was a Supreme Court Judge before he joined politics, refused to respect the court´s ruling, prompting one Nawaraj Neupane to move the apex court with a writ petition against Jha.
In response to the writ petition on August 12, the apex court reiterated that Jha should take oath in Nepali in the aftermath of the nullification of his previous oath. On that day, the court had also ordered the Office of the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister to furnish their respective replies on the progress made so far on administering a fresh oath to Jha.
However, on Sunday, the court was not convinced with the replies and issued the order attached with the specific timeframe for Jha to take a fresh oath. It is the clearest one among the orders passed in the oath row. The previous orders said that Jha should retake oath in Nepali but did not set the deadline for administering the oath.
kiran@myrepublica.com
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