Judiciary acting like ‘super Parliament’, cannot direct President: Jagdeep Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar criticised the judiciary for its recent order in the governor vs Tamil Nadu government case and said the court cannot act as “super Parliament”. He said the judiciary enjoys extraordinary powers but has zero accountability.

 

Addressing Rajya Sabha interns, Dhankhar charged that Article 142 was a “nuclear missile available with judiciary against democratic forces 24X7”. The vice president said, “We have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament and absolutely have no accountability because the law of the land does not apply to them.”  Article 142 grants Supreme Court the power to issue orders that ensure "complete justice" in any matter being heard by it.

 

 

Calling out the Supreme Court’s recent order deciding timelines for president and governors for granting assent to bills, Dhankhar said, “There is a directive to the president by a recent judgment. Where are we heading? What is happening in the country? We have to be extremely sensitive. It is not a question of someone filing a review or not. We never bargained for democracy for this day. President being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, becomes law," PTI reported quoting the vice president.

 

"We cannot have a situation where you direct the president of India and on what basis? The only right you have under the Constitution is to interpret the Constitution under Article 145(3). There it has to be five judges or more...," Dhankhar stressed.

India