The option the vice-president has left to the government is to amend the constitution and include a clause that will allow the president and vice-president to take their oath of office in their mother tongues.

The cabinet had decided to add the clause last week after the court scrapped Jha's Hindi oath as unconstitutional. However, it had said Jha should re-take his oath first since the amendment is a lengthy process.

'I took my oath of office 13 months ago in Hindi,' Jha told IANS.

'There is no precedent in the world of an official being asked to take the oath again after such a long time. By ordering me to renounce my Hindi oath and take it again in Nepali, the Supreme Court has insulted all ethnic communities whose mother tongue is not Nepali. The verdict is biased and has divided Nepal at a time we should proceed unitedly to draft a new constitution.'

Police, meanwhile, tightened security around Jha's house after two failed attempts to bomb it.

One man has been arrested in a massive manhunt launched in the capital and Terai since a bomb exploded Friday near Jha's residence in Kathmandu, injuring a woman.

An armed group involved in extortion, the Kirat Janawadi Workers' Party, had claimed responsibility for the blast.

A central committee member of the outfit, Ajay Rai, has been arrested from Itahari town in Terai's Sunsari district Saturday night, police said.