Parmanand Jha
Encyclopedia
Parmanand Jha (born 1944) is the current Vice President
Vice President of Nepal
The position of Vice President of Nepal constitutes the deputy head of State of the country of Nepal and was created when the Nepalese monarchy was abolished in May 2008....

 of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 and a former Supreme Court judge. He was born and brought up in Darbhanga
Darbhanga
Darbhangā is a twin city and a municipal corporation and the capital city of the Darbhanga district and Darbhanga Division in the state of Bihar, India. It is one of the most important districts of North Bihar situated in the very heart of Mithilanchal. According to the latest 2011 census, the...

, Bihar, India. Jha resigned as a judge in December 2007 after he was not proposed by the Judicial Council as a permanent judge at the apex court, following allegations of involvement in drug smuggling. Later, Jha joined political life and became a member of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. On 19 July 2008, he was elected
Nepalese presidential election, 2008
An indirect presidential election was held in Nepal on 19 July 2008 with a presidential run-off on 21 July. The Nepalese Constituent Assembly elected in April 2008 elected a new President and Vice-President after the Fifth Amendment to the Interim Constitution was passed on 14 July...

 the vice-president of Nepal by the Constituent Assembly
Nepalese Constituent Assembly
The Nepalese Constituent Assembly is a unicameral body of 601 members formed as a result of the Constituent Assembly election that was held on April 10, 2008. The Constituent Assembly is tasked with writing a new constitution, and it will act as the interim legislature for a term of two years...

. He was nominated by the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. After the election, Jha vowed that he would work in an independent manner, free from party interests.

Term of Office

He took his tenure on 23 July after taking the oath of the office of the Vice President from President Ram Baran Yadav
Ram Baran Yadav
Dr Ram Baran Yadav is the current President of Nepal. He was elected in July 2008 and is the country's first President. He previously served as Minister of Health and as General Secretary of the Nepali Congress party....

  at Shital Niwaas. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala
Girija Prasad Koirala
Girija Prasad Koirala was a Nepalese politician and the President of the Nepali Congress, a major political party. He was Prime Minister of Nepal for four times, serving from 1991 to 1994, 1998 to 1999, 2000 to 2001, and from 2006 to 2008; he was also Acting Head of State from January 2007 to July...

, among others, was also present.

Oath in Hindi and Aftermath

He came into controversy after he took the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

, which is the mother tongue of less than 1% of the Nepali
Demographics of Nepal
The population of Nepal is estimated at 29,391,883 people in July 2011, with a population growth rate of 1.596% and a median age of 21.6 years. Female median age is estimated at 22.5 years, and male median age at 20.7 years...

 population , but a language spoken as second or third language by majority. This led to a widespread agitation throughout the country. The media gave a good coverage to this. Many news sites and blogs were suddenly filled with comments on this issue. The views expressed in the sites were mixed. While many people expressed that the swearing in was unconstitutional, leaders of Jha's party came up with a view that this act was permissible.

Writ Petition against Jha

A writ petition was filed by Bal Krishna Neupane at the apex court claiming that the oath was unconstitutional as it was taken in a language not recognised by the interim constitution. In response to this, the Supreme Court on 28 July 2008 asked the government and the Vice President Parmananda Jha to furnish written explanation regarding the oath taken in Hindi

Court order to retake oath

Even after a deadline of 7 days, V. P. Jha had been ignoring the court's order for his written clarification but he once expressed regret via a statement clarifying that his taking oath in Hindi language was not to pinch at sentiments of any Nepali citizen. After a year long court procedure, the Supreme Court issued order to Vice President Parmananda Jha to take oath of office and secrecy for the second time. The verdict was issued on 24 July 2009 after the court concluded that taking oath in Hindi language is not constitutional as per prevailing laws of Nepal.

However, VP Jha has objected to the Supreme Court verdict accusing the court verdict being biased and influenced by conflicting interests. He wanted to decide whether or not to retake the oath after consulting political parties and ‘the people he represents.’ Some news sources also reported that VP Jha was speaking in Nepali while he claimed that he 'politically' does not understand Nepali language.

Even as the Cabinet has urged him to take oath of office and secrecy as per the orders of the Supreme Court, Vice President Parmananda Jha said that he can only consider re-taking oath after all the languages spoken in Nepal 'are given due respect'. The Supreme Court's verdict on the deadline for retaking the oath expired on 30 August 2009.

VP's position becomes defunct

Paramananda Jha's position as the Vice President became defunct from 31 August 2009, with his refusal to take oath in Nepali. According to the Supreme Court's verdict, Jha could not perform any duties in capacity of the VP and was not entitled to special security and privileges given to him as the VP. Jha was then in a situation where he had been elected as the VP by the parliament, but hadn't taken oath. A person elected to public office is not allowed to use national flag in his residence and vehicle and is not entitled to VVIP security until he/she takes oath.

VP's position reactivated

After six months off duty, Vice President's post was reactivated from 7 February 2010, after he took a fresh oath of office and secrecy. It was speculated that there would be no protests against his oath that time as he took the oath both in Nepali and his mother tongue Maithali. Taking oath in mother tongue other than Nepali is permitted after a recent amendment in current Constitution letting President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ministers to take oath of office and secrecy in their respective mother tongues.

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