BJP distances itself from comments made by Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma about Supreme Court, says party always respects Judiciary: Here is what the MPs actually said

The Bharatiya Janata Party has distanced itself from the controversial statements made by its two MPs, Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma, regarding the Supreme Court.

BJP National President Jagata Prakash Nadda issued a statement on Saturday (19th April) clarifying that the remarks made by the two MPs were their personal opinions and the BJP does not concur with them.

Criticising the views expressed by Dubey and Sharma, Nadda emphasised that the BJP has always respected the judiciary and considered all the courts, including the Supreme Court, as an internal part of the democracy.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party has nothing to do with the statements made by BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the Chief Justice of the country. These are their personal statements, but the BJP neither agrees with such statements nor does it ever support such statements. The BJP completely rejects these statements. Bharatiya Janata Party has always respected the judiciary and gladly accepted its orders and suggestions because, as a party, we believe that all the courts of the country, including the Supreme Court, are an integral part of our democracy and are a strong pillar of the protection of the Constitution. I have instructed both of them and everyone else not to make such statements,” Nadda wrote on X on Sunday (20th April).

What did the MPs say

Speaking to the media yesterday (19th April), BJP MP Dinesh Sharma took a veiled dig at the Supreme Court, saying that no one has the right to issue directions to the Parliament or the President.

Sharma said, “There is an apprehension among the public that when Dr BR Ambedkar wrote the Constitution, the rights of the Legislative and Judiciary were clearly written. According to the Constitution of India, no one can direct the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and the President has already given her assent to it. No one can challenge the President, as the President is supreme.”

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had also made some contentious remarks against the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna. Dubey accused the Supreme Court of driving the country towards a state of anarchy and overstepping the limits of its constitutional powers by interfering with the work of the legislature and the executive. He also held CJI Khanna responsible for the ‘civil wars’ happening in the country.

He added that the government will introduce the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) in the next session of the Parliament to get rid of nepotism in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.

Allegations of judicial overreach

The statements of the BJP MPs followed the remarks made by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, questioning the Supreme Court for putting a time limit on the constitutional powers of the President and the Governors in a recent judgment.

The criticism of the Supreme Court by the BJP leaders and the Vice President came after two recent developments. The Supreme Court passed a judgment on 8th April in which it set a time limit, not envisaged in the Constitution, on the exercise of power to grant or refuse assent to a state Bill by the President and the Governor.

Apart from that, while considering a slew of petitions filed before it challenging the Waqf Act on Thursday (17th April), the Supreme Court hinted at staying the Act, after which the Centre assured the Court that no no-Muslims will be appointed to the Waqf Councils and that no Waqf properties, including ‘Waqf by user’ will be denotified.

The entire controversy around the recent observations of the Supreme Court and the criticism that followed has once again sparked the debate around judicial overreach.

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