KATHMANDU, Nepal, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Nepalese Vice President Paramananda Jha refused to follow a Supreme Court order to retake his oath of office in the Nepali language, officials said.
Jha, who belongs to the minority Madheshi community in Nepal's southern plains bordering India, had taken his oath last year in his native Hindi language.
After protests in the Himalayan republic, the Supreme Count ordered him to retake his oath in Nepali or leave office. Jha is a former Supreme Court justice.
Jha's refusal Sunday to obey the order by the deadline set by the high court had made his office defunct, Nepalnews.com reported. He will now be treated as a person who is yet to take the oath after being elected vice president.
"The court's order to retake oath of office is wrong and unconstitutional as I have already taken oath of office last year in the presence of (the) president, then prime minister, Supreme Court chief justice ... and for the purpose of government record I have signed in the format of the oath of office written in Nepali language," Jha told a news conference, the Press Trust of India reported.
Jha was quoted as saying he would consider taking a new oath only after the government and Parliament endorsed an amendment recognizing all languages spoken in Nepal.
The Nepalnews quoted Jha's aides as saying Jha would stay at home but would not resign his position.
