Kathmandu, August 13:

Supreme Court Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha said today he and two other Justices were unable to hear a fresh case against Vice-President Paramananda Jha citing a three-year-old case against the latter.

While shifting the case against the former SC ad hoc judge from his bench, Justice Shrestha today said he would not hear the case.

“I and honourable Justices Anup Raj Sharma and Khil Raj Regmi cannot hear the case,” he said, pronouncing his decision.

“We had investigated a corruption allegation against him and based on our verdict his case was sent back to the Appellate Court and his tenure was not extended in the Supreme Court,” Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha recalled.

“He may question our impartiality if we hear the case against him,” Shrestha said, adding,” Since we have investigated and given verdict against him, we should not provide him any room to point fingers at us.”

Shrestha shifted the petition filed by advocate Khadananda Adhikari challenging the Vice-President’s act of taking oath in Hindi language.

Registrar Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena, however, had rejected his petition citing that another case filed by advocate Balkrishna Neupane was already sub-judice in the apex court. But advocate Adhikari challenged the Registrar’s decision and his petition was placed before Justice Shrestha’s bench.

The three-member panel comprising Justices Sharma, Shrestha and Regmi had pronounced Parmananda Jha’s verdict of acquitting drug peddler Dil Bahadur Gurung as illogical.