Jha on Monday wrote to the apex court that the verdict was a result of his personal enmity against the chief justice.
A division bench of CJ Rayamajhee and Justice Bal Ram KC had nullified Jha´s oath taken in Hindi a year ago. Hindi is not an official language in Nepal.
Jha has been alleging that the chief justice was biased while passing the verdict.
Chief Justice Rayamajhee, however, does not subscribe to the allegation.
Talking to Republica, Rayamajhee said he just upheld the judicial principle of fairness while nullifying Jha´s Hindi oath. “I was not biased and unfair while delivering the verdict,” said Rayamajhee, adding, “Let him say whatever he likes, I don´t want to comment any further.”
Jha has accused Chief Justice Rayamajhee of violating judicial norms while passing the verdict.
The apex court last week issued a show cause notice against Jha asking him to furnish a written explanation regarding the oath controversy. A case was filed against Jha for contempt of court after he lambasted the court´s verdict, terming it ´biased´ and ´meaningless.´
Jha, in his statement, said his relations with Rayamajhee turned bitter after the former´s promotion. “We were good friend in the early days, but when I was promoted to SC justice our relations soured,” Jha argued in his reply.
Jha also said he would never accept a verdict by a rival like Rayamajhee. “Rayamajhee shouldn´t have handled my case as he is my open enemy,” Jha has said.
But Chief Justice Rayamjhee said Jha´s accusations are baseless. “The SC bench will again hear his case and reach a conclusion,” Rayamajhee told myrepublica.com.
Jha has also questioned the jurisdiction of the judges. “The judges have no jurisdiction to nullify my oath taken in Hindi,” he further said in the statement.
He has argued that the court´s verdict nullifying his oath had violated his linguistic rights. “Everybody has the freedom to pass fair comment on the verdict and order of the court,” Jha said, adding, “I also did the same and that does not mean that I showed contempt of court.”
Jha accused the court of forgetting its jurisdiction.
Jha has requested the apex court to quash the case filed against him on charge of contempt of court, arguing that the verdict has attacked the linguistic rights of Madhesi people. “I was hurt by the court´s decision and so I expressed my comments but my intention was not to disregard the court´s verdict,” he said.
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