Dipendra Jha ( ne, दिपेन्द्र झा) is the first and incumbent chief attorney of
Madhesh Province
Madhesh Province ( Nepali/ mai, मधेश प्रदेश) is a province of Nepal that was formed after the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal. It is Nepal's most populous province, and smallest province by area. It borders Province N ...
, one of seven provinces of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. He assumed the office in February 2018. He is the legal adviser to the Chief Minister
Lalbabu Raut
Lalbabu Raut Gaddhi ( Nepali/ Maithili/ Bhojpuri: लालबाबु राउत)is the first Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, one of the seven federal Provinces of Nepal. He is the parliamentary party leader of People's Socialist Party, ...
and the Convener of Bill Drafting Facilitation Committee in
Madhesh Province
Madhesh Province ( Nepali/ mai, मधेश प्रदेश) is a province of Nepal that was formed after the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal. It is Nepal's most populous province, and smallest province by area. It borders Province N ...
. Article 160 (5) of the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
stipulates: "The Chief Attorney shall be the chief legal advisor to the State Government. It shall be the duty of the Chief Attorney to give opinions and advices on constitutional and legal matters to the State Government and such other authorities as the State Government may specify."
Education
He has obtained a
Masters of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
(
Human Rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
) degree from
Mahidol University
Mahidol University (Mahidol), an autonomous research institution in Thailand, had its origin in the establishment of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. Mahidol had an acceptance rate for Medicine of 0.4% as of the 2016 academic year.
Becoming the Univers ...
i
Thailandand a master's degree in
Peace and Conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts), with a view towards understanding those pro ...
from
Bradford University
The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...
in the
U.K.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and English Literature),
L.L.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
and
L.L.M.
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
from the
Tribhuvan University
Tribhuvan University (TU; ne, त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest university in Nepal. In terms of enrollment, it is t ...
in Nepal. He was awarded with International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) by the United States of America in 2014.
Career
Chief Attorney
As the Chief Attorney, he has contributed and led to the enactment of several laws and policies for the Province 2 government, including Dalit Empowerment Act, State 2 Police Act, State 2 Civil Service Act, Jan Lokpal Act, Girls’ Protection Special Act.
Lawyer
Before he became Chief Attorney on 18 February 2018, he practiced law at the
Supreme Court of Nepal
The Supreme Court of Nepal ( ne, सर्वोच्च अदालत) is the highest court in Nepal. It has appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the seven High Courts (including eleven Benches of the High Courts) and extraordinary origin ...
. He was involved in a number of
public interest litigation (PIL) cases on various key issues such as citizenship, inclusion, federalism and constitutional issues in Nepal.
As a
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
lawyer, his litigation has contributed to ensuring federalism in Nepal in
The Constitution of Nepal 2015. The
Supreme Court of Nepal
The Supreme Court of Nepal ( ne, सर्वोच्च अदालत) is the highest court in Nepal. It has appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the seven High Courts (including eleven Benches of the High Courts) and extraordinary origin ...
, on 20 June 2015 issued an interim order against the implementation of
16-point agreementthat was agreed upon amongst the four major parties -
Nepali Congress
The Nepali Congress ( ne, नेपाली कांग्रेस ; abbr. NC) is the largest social democratic political party in Nepal. As per the results of recent local election, ''Nepali Congress'' stands as the single largest party o ...
,
CPN-UML,
CPN-Maoist, and
Nepal Democratic Forum
The Nepal Loktantrik Forum (translation: ''Nepal Democratic Forum'') was a political party in Nepal. The party was established on April 5, 2017, after merging with the Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum (Democratic), the Rastriya Janamukti Party (Democ ...
- on 8 June 2015 to promulgate the constitution without
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
.
Although
The Constitution of Nepal 2015 - which is the first constitution of the country drafted through people's elected representatives - was claimed the best constitution in the world by many, his interviews and writings consistently lent to the idea that the document is controversial and that it should be amended. In an interview with
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
etc. on contemporary politics and constitutional and social justice issues of Nepal.
He is a prominent human rights defender voicing the human rights concerns of the marginalised communities. He is the founder of
, which is an independent and active human rights non-government organization.
He is the author of Federal Nepal: Trials and Tribulations, which narrates the story of the constitution making process of Nepal. The book review published in ''The Record'' ''read: "''Asides from facts and figures on the marginalized, his book has anecdotes and reviews of key political events, and includes the reactions of various Nepali power-centers and the international community towards Nepal’s constitution."
As author, he also wrote Op-Ed on current affairs of
in Nepali language and other online news portals, including Online Khabar and Setopati.
. He started campaign to contest for
. But just a day before nomination his ticket was converted to
. He fought with Abhiram Sharma from LOSAPA and got defeated from 174 votes margin receiving 9,718 where as Abhiram Sharma received 9,892 votes. Jha moved back to Kathmandu for his legal practice and to continue his political career.
He married Anu Jha in 2004. They have two daughters Diya Jha and Aradhya Jha. He and his spouse are from
.