- ´This verdict is biased, predictable´
- ´Judges did not know law and Nepali context´
- ´No one can compel me to take oath in Nepali´
- ´My lawyers were not allowed to plead´
- ´I will continue in office even on Sunday´
- ´I have reservations about fresh oath, will decide after consultations´
KATHMANDU, July 24: Vice President Paramananda Jha has expressed his displeasure over the Supreme Court verdict nullifying the oath of office he took in the Hindi language, saying the judgment was biased and predictable.
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In an interview to Republica at his residence at Kumarigal, Kathmandu following the verdict, the judge-turned vice president said, “It is an unwelcome verdict. The justices assumed that a non-Nepali speaking person cannot be president and vice-president of Nepal.” [break]
Jha said that the verdict involved conflict interest as Chief Justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhee was a member of the Judicial Council that formed a committee to probe a controversial order passed by Jha in 2006. Then a temporary justice at the apex court, Jha was then demoted for the flawed order releasing an alleged drug smuggler.
“Presence of Rayamajhee on the bench involved conflict of interest,” Jha said.
Jha also questioned the competence of Rayamajhee and Balaram KC despite the fact that the duo are two of the most competent incumbent judges. “They did not know the law and the context of Nepal.”
When asked whether he would go to office following the court verdict, he said he would go to office on Sunday as usual. “No one can stop me,” Jha, whose mother tongue is Maithili, said in English, with a copy of the verdict in his hand.
About the taking of a fresh oath, he said that he has reservations about it and will decide later. He would first ask for an interpreter before taking a new oath as he does not know Nepali at all. “Politically speaking, I do not understand Nepali. No one can compel me to take oath in Nepali,” the vice president said in fluent Nepali.
Jha accused the chief justice of not allowing his 11 lawyers to plead his case. “The hearings were scheduled when I was out of the country and my lawyers were not allowed to defend me,” he claimed.
“The verdict proves that the Supreme Court has been the court of a limited number of people and of a certain community. Now the people will question the competence of such a bench and its judges,” Jha said in an aggressive tone of voice.
