BJP MP Nishikant Dubey sparked outrage in political circle as well as legal corridors for criticising the Supreme Court (SC) which incidentally came a day after the ‘controversial’ statement by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, where he had questioned supremacy between judiciary and legislature giving enough ammunition to the Opposition parties terming such remarks as ‘atrocious’.
While Opposition asked the BJP to immediately sack Dubey from the party, lawyers wrote to the Attorney General of India seeking consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Dubey over his “grossly scandalous” remarks “aimed at lowering the dignity” of the top court.
After causing an uproar with his remarks against the Chief Justice of India, Dubey on Sunday fired a fresh salvo at former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi about whom the BJP MP said Quraishi was not an election commissioner but a “Muslim commissioner”. The former CEC had criticised the Waqf (Amendment) Act as a “sinister and evil plan of the government to grab Muslim lands”.
“Wakf Act is undoubtedly a blatantly sinister evil plan of the govt to grab Muslim lands. I’m sure SC will call it out. Misinformation by the mischievous propaganda machine has done its job well,” Quraishi had said in a social media post.
Dubey said, “You were not an election commissioner, you were a Muslim commissioner. The maximum number of Bangladeshi infiltrators were made voters in Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand during your tenure. Prophet Muhammad’s Islam came to India in 712. This land (Waqf) before that belonged to Hindus or tribals, Jains or Buddhists associated with that faith.”
Dubey said his village Vikramshila was burnt down by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1189 and that the Vikramshila University gave the world its “first vice chancellor” in Atish Dipankar. “Unite this country, read history. Pakistan was created by dividing it. There will be no partition now,” said Dubey who is in his fourth-term as Lok Sabha MP.
Congress has demanded expulsion of Dubey from the party as the latter often attacked the Congress’ first family- the Gandhis — both in and out of the Parliament. BJP led by party president JP Nadda disassociated itself from the criticism of the Supreme Court by its MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma
Dubey on Saturday remarked the Parliament and State assemblies should be shut if the Supreme Court had to make the laws. He also took a swipe at Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and alleged that Khanna was responsible for “civil wars” in the country. Dubey’s party colleague Dinesh Sharma, also a former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, also criticised the Supreme Court saying no one could direct Parliament or the president.
Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh said the distancing of the “outgoing BJP president” from the “atrocious remarks” made by two MPs on the Chief Justice of India (CJI) carried little meaning. “These MPs are repeat offenders when it comes to hate speech and are very often used by G2 to attack communities, institutions, and individuals. The outgoing BJP president’s clarification is nothing but damage control,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh also without naming Dhankar for his remarks early last week mentioned how the Prime Minister and BJP chief is silent on equally unacceptable remarks on the judiciary that are continually made by one of its very distinguished appointees to a high constitutional position. “If the continued silence of the prime minister on these repeated attacks on the Indian Constitution is not tacitly supportive of them, why has no action been taken against these two MPs? Has Nadda ji issued show cause notices to these two MPs?,” Ramesh sought to know.
Nadda called the comments of Dubey and Sharma as their personal views. He also affirmed the ruling party’s respect for the judiciary as an inseparable part of democracy. “The BJP has nothing to do with the comments of MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the chief justice. This is their personal comments but the BJP neither agrees with them nor does it ever support such remarks. The BJP absolutely rejects them,” Nadda said in a damage control. He said he had directed both the leaders and other members of the party not to make such comments.
Also, Supreme Court lawyer advocate Anas Tanveer, representing one of the litigants in the Waqf Act case has written to Attorney General R Venkatramani seeking consent to initiate contempt proceedings against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey over his “grossly scandalous” remarks “aimed at lowering the dignity” of the top court.
“I am writing this letter under Section 15(1)(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, read with Rule 3(c) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975, to humbly seek your kind consent for initiating criminal contempt proceedings against Nishikant Dubey, Member of Lok Sabha from Godda parliamentary constituency in Jharkhand, for statements made by him in public that are grossly scandalous, misleading, and aimed at lowering the dignity and authority of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the letter said.
Legal experts denounced both Dhankhar and Dubey’s disparaging remarks against the judiciary, terming those irresponsible and asserting that the dignity and decorum of the top court should be maintained.
Dhankhar had questioned the judiciary setting a timeline for the president to make decisions and acting as a “super Parliament”, saying the Supreme Court cannot fire a “nuclear missile” at democratic forces.
Rajya Sabha BJP MP, senior advocate and Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said the judiciary is supreme and the dignity and decorum of the Supreme Court should be maintained. “The controversy has been given a full stop by the BJP president. The judiciary is supreme. Whatever order has been passed by the Supreme Court is final and under Article 142 empowers the top court to do complete justice in any matter. If anybody is aggrieved, there is a scope for review. Such issues should not be discussed on roads and dignity and decorum of the Supreme Court should be maintained,” he said.
Former Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh said the vice-president, as a high constitutional functionary, should not make such a comment and every institution has to be respected.