Parmananda Jha, who was asked to take a fresh oath by Sunday evening, did not attend a ceremony at the President’s office where Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Constituent Assembly Chairman Subas Nemwang, among others had gathered.
Jha, 65, failed to turn up, even as the seven-day deadline set by the Supreme Court ended on Sunday. The dignatories left after waiting for Jha for some time.
Jha, an ethnic Madhesi and a former judge from southern Terai region bordering India, had courted controversy last year after he took the oath of office in Hindi. Jha’s action leaves the vice presidential office in limbo as though he would cease to function as the Vice-President, his post can be vacated only by a Parliamentary impeachment motion. A defiant Jha had earlier challenged the apex court’s directive calling it “unconstitutional.”
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