KATHMANDU: What will be the way out to end constitutiOnal deadlock resulted after Vice President Paramananda Jha vacated his office? More intriguing question would be — whether Jha himself or any state authority should declare the vacation of the dignified post of the nation?

“Since he has declined continuing assuming the post along with the denial to take fresh oath in Nepali as ordered by the apex court, the Constituent Assembly should decide whether his post is now vacant,” Purna Man Shakya, a constitutional law expert, told The Himalayan Times. “Since it’s the body that had elected him to the post, it should be ready to declare the vacation of the post and to begin the process for new appointment.”

“However, there is no need to for the CA to remove him through the two-third majority since he is not holding

the post constitutionally any more,” he argued.

There is no ground to expect his resignation or announcement that the post is vacant as it was automatically vacated with his denial of taking fresh oath, Shakya added.

Continuing the present situation means the constitutional impasse over the continuance of the vice presidential position who works as the head of state in the absence of the head of state — the president — as per the Interim Constitution, 2007.

Article 36-G of the Interim Constitution reads: “The Vice President shall perform the functions to be performed by the President (the head of state) in the absence of the President or until another President is elected after the removal of the President from his or her office.”

Tendering resignation,

removing him by two-third

majority from the CA and

death are the ways for a legitimate Vice President to be eased out from the post.

A SC Justice also said, on condition of anonymity, that VP Jha was automatically eased out from the post following his denial to retake oath. The posts of Bishwo Nath Upadhyaya and Bipulendra Chakraworti, after they refused to take fresh oath after their nomination as the CA member and SC judge, respectively, are also lying vacant.

However, they had rejected their nomination in writing and formally announced that they would not accept the posts.

VP Jha claimed that he was holding the elected post which could not be compared with that of the nominated posts.