Parmanand Jha (; born 1946) is a Nepali politician who served as the first vice president of Nepal from 23 July 2008 to 31 October 2015 following his term as a

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

judge. Jha was born to Nepali parents and brought Bihar in

Darbhanga district Darbhanga district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar States and territories of India, state in eastern India, and Darbhanga city is the administrative headquarters of this district and 5th largest city of Bihar as well. Darbhanga d ...

in the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

; this took place at his maternal uncle's home, according to Hindu traditions. His father hails from the Mithila region of Nepal, making him a descendant native citizen and federal subject of Nepal. Jha resigned as a judge in December 2007 after he was not proposed by the Judicial Council.. Later, Jha joined political life and became a member of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. On 19 July 2008, he was elected as Vice-President of Nepal by the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. He began his first term of office as Vice-President of Nepal on 23 July 2008 by taking the oath of office from President Ram Baran Yadav at the Sheetal Niwas Presidential Palace in Maithili (despite he intended to take oath in Hindi) in the presence of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Girijaprasad Koirala and others.

Hindi oath controversy

Jha's legitimacy as vice-president was challenged for taking the oath of office in Hindi by Nepalis. Jha's mother tongue is Maithili but he is also fluent in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Bengali, and English. A written petition was filed by Advocate Balkrishna Neupane at the apex court claiming that the oath was unconstitutional as it was taken in a language not recognized by the interim constitution. After a year long court procedure, the Supreme Court on 24 July 2009 ordered Jha to retake the oath of office and secrecy for the second time "in accordance with the Constitution," ruling that taking oath in Hindi was not constitutional. However, Jha objected to the Supreme Court verdict, accusing the court of being biased and of conflict of interests. He stated that he would decide whether or not to retake the oath after consulting political parties and the "people he represents," i.e., the Madhesias who principally speak Maithili and Bhojpuri. He demanded changes to the law to ensure that all languages (i.e., Hindi) "are given due respect." The Supreme Court's deadline for retaking the oath expired on 30 August 2009. As Jha did not swear once again the oath of office, the office was considered to have become vacant from 31 August 2009. In order to maintain political and ethnic inclusiveness, the Nepalese government did not seek a new vice-president but continued to work with Jha towards a compromise, seeking to re-instate him. Changes were made to the law to allow the oath of office to be taken in native ethnic languages, e.g., Jha's native Maithili, and on 7 February 2010, he accordingly took a fresh oath of office as vice-president in the Maithili language.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jha, Parmananda 1946 births Living people Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal politicians 20th-century Nepalese judges Vice presidents of Nepal Madhesi people Nepalese Hindus People from Rajbiraj 21st-century Nepalese judges