Parmananda Jha, the first Vice-President of Nepal, on Sunday turned down a government request to take fresh oath in Nepali, a year after his election, in the light of a Supreme Court order.

As the seven-day deadline set by the Supreme Court for fresh oath was drawing to an end, Jha held a press conference and said: “I will neither take oath, nor quit”, leaving it to the government to perform the unpleasant task of annulling his Vice Presidency.

Jha, a former judge of the Supreme Court, had taken oath in Hindi against the provision in the Constitution that says that both the President and the Vice-President should take oath in Nepali. The Supreme Court recently ruled that Jha must take oath again in Nepali to continue in the post.

Jha said it was not his wish to complicate things in a country going through a transition period, but made it clear that his stance is in response to the “misinterpretation of the Constitution by those assigned to deliver justice”.

Following Jha’s stance, the President’s office, which had fixed 4 pm for the oath ceremony, called off the ceremony.

Over the past few days, the court ruling led to protests and shutdowns in parts of the Hindi-speaking Terai region, along the border with India. With some parties based in the Terai region in a mood to continue their protests, the controversy is also likely to have a fall-out on the government.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had requested Jha to honour the Supreme Court decision, promising that “there will be suitable provision in the new Constitution so that those holding public posts will be able to take oath in their mother tongue”.

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