A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s remarks on the higher judiciary, Opposition parties severely criticised his stand whereas the ruling BJP rallied behind the Rajya Sabha Presiding Officer while accusing the Opposition of “political hypocrisy”.
Leaders of the Congress, TMC, DMK, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD and several legal experts and advocates voiced concern and accused Dhankhar of “undermining Supreme Court’s authority that potentially bordered on judicial contempt”.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said there was no need to learn ‘constitutional propriety’ from a Party that says it won’t implement a law passed by Parliament. “They mocked the Vice President’s posture, protect rioters in the name of votebank politics, and find no time to visit Hindu victims in Bengal,” the BJP said.
Addressing Rajya Sabha interns on April 17, Dhankhar had described Article 142 - which allows the Supreme Court to ensure “complete justice” — as “a nuclear missile against democratic forces” that is available to the judiciary round the clock. He also raised concerns about the Court mandating timelines for President of India’s assent to State Bills and the judicial process surrounding absence of an FIR against the then Delhi High Court Judge from whose official residence here a stash of burnt currency notes was found.
Dhankhar’s reaction vis-a-vis the higher judiciary came days after the Supreme Court fixed timeline for the President to grant assent to the State Bills reserved for her consideration by a Governor of a State.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala cited the Supreme Court’s April 8 judgment that entails a three-month deadline for the President to act on Bills sent by Governors. “Only the Constitution is supreme in our democracy. No authority, including the Vice President, can override constitutional checks and balances,” Surjewala said.
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee condemned the Vice President’s “objectionable” tone that he termed a sign of “repeated disregard for constitutional institutions”. He emphasised that as a high-ranking constitutional figure, Dhankhar should uphold and not question the authority of the higher judiciary.
DMK leader Tiruchi Siva labelled the comments “unethical,” stressing that no one — regardless of office he or she holds — has the right to indefinitely stall legislative processes under the guise of constitutional power.
Siva said, “Under the (doctrine of) separation of powers as per the Constitution, the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary have distinct powers.”
Senior Advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also joined the debate, questioning Dhankhar’s objection to Article 142 of the Constitution. “The Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to deliver complete justice. It is not about curtailing the powers of the President; it is about ensuring justice in its truest sense,” he said.
Sibal asserted that the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman should remain equidistant from the Opposition and the ruling party, and cannot be the “spokesperson of any party”. “Everyone knows that the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair is in between. He or she is the Speaker of the House, not the speaker of one Party. They also don’t vote — they only vote when there is a tie. The same is the case with the Upper House. You are equidistant from the Opposition and the ruling Party,” Sibal said at a press conference.
Sibal also recalled the 1975 Supreme Court judgment that invalidated then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s election. “People would remember that when the Supreme Court’s decision came on Indira Gandhi’s election, only one judge — Justice Krishna Iyer — gave the decision,” he said.