'Who’s Undermining Democracy More: Judiciary Or Executive?' SC Verdict On Governors Sparks A Constitutional Crisis

Who is damaging Indian democracy more, the judiciary or the executive? This question arises in the context of the Supreme Court’s historical verdict on the issue of the role of governors and their power to hold duly passed bills from the assembly. The Supreme Court has categorically stated through its verdict that governors of opposition-ruled states have gone rogue, and despite holding a constitutional high post, they are indulging in politics in partnership with the centre and weakening democracy. Whereas the way Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and a few leaders of the BJP have targeted the Supreme Court tells a different story.

Vice-President Dhankhar has gone to the extent of using the metaphor of a nuclear arsenal to denigrate the role of the judiciary in exercising its constitutionally mandated role of judicial review. This was not expected from a person holding the second highest post in the country. I could understand that he and the government might be deeply aggrieved by the Supreme Court’s verdict, but his language should have been more nuanced and civilised. He should not forget that being the Vice-President of the country, it is also his responsibility to not allow the dignity of the Supreme Court to be undermined, tarnished and discredited.

There has been an attempt on behalf of the constitutional functionaries related to the government to prove that the Parliament is sovereign and that the judiciary has to play a subordinate role. This is partly because of the non-understanding of the Constitution and also because many in the government are deliberately behaving in such a manner to score brownie points like Nishikant Dubey, who has accused the SC and the CJI of unleashing religious wars in the country. Statements like Dubey’s should be ignored, but what the Vice-President has said needs to be contested. He should know that according to the framers of the Constitution, no branch of it is supreme or sovereign. Sovereignty lies with the Constitution and, through it, with the people of India.

The Indian constitution is based on the separation of powers. The three arms of the state, i.e., the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, have to work in tandem and harmony. None of the above has more power than the rest. Indian constitution makers were of the opinion that if the executive was given overwhelming powers over the other two, then the day would come when a leader could usurp it and throw it in the dustbin of history. To not let that happen, the judiciary has been endowed with the power of judicial review, which means that the SC and the HC have the power to nullify any law made by the Parliament or any act of the executive made with malafide intent or against the very spirit of the Constitution or defying the constitutionally mandated power of the other two branches of the state.

The Vice-President has forgotten that the Tamil Nadu governor has been diligently destabilising the duly elected government through his actions. From no stretch of imagination can any governor assume the role of a super chief minister, who is unelected, has no fixed tenure, and continues in office courtesy the central government. R.N. Ravi was blocking bills for years. There were ten such bills. In fact, through his actions and utterances he has made himself unworthy of the post he is holding. Even after such a scathing observation by the SC, he has not had the moral courage to resign from the post.

But why should only Ravi be blamed? Almost every governor appointed by the Modi government has been trying to paralyse opposition governments. An astute politician like Arif Mohammed Khan can’t claim to have been fair in exercising his duty as the governor of Kerala. I don’t need to talk about Delhi’s LG Vinay Kumar Saxena. The SC had admonished the Punjab governor, Banwari Lal Purohit, a few months back. Even then the SC had hinted that bills passed by the assembly couldn’t be blocked for eternity. Obviously, Ravi has been ignoring the SC’s dictates. Even the Vice-President, when he was the governor of West Bengal, had tried every trick in the book to upset the Mamata government. In fact, it was popularly said that governor Dhankhar was the best opposition Mamata had. It is whispered in the power corridors of Delhi that Dhankhar was rewarded for the job he did as the governor of Bengal by being made the Vice-President, and even now his utterances can’t be called innocent since he knows that he is only a step away from becoming the first citizen of the country.

The Supreme Court is right in fixing a time limit of three months for the governor to decide the fate of the bill passed by the state assembly. He can’t undermine the will of the people expressed through the elected government. The governor can’t act as a moral police for the assembly. He has a limited role. And the Indian constitution makers rightly decided that the governor, as an agent of the centre, was only a titular head in the state. Ravi was going against the spirit of the Constitution. It was imperative to pull him up and remind him that he was doing great injustice to the state of Tamil Nadu and to the Constitution. The Vice-President also has not done justice by casting aspersions on the Supreme Court. He has every right to criticise the highest court, but the language used has to be dignified. He should know that history is ruthless.

And, yes, those who are crying hoarse that the Court can’t give direction to the President should not forget that there is no holy cow in our Constitution; even the President is not above it and can be told off if s/he is transgressing the boundaries.

The writer is Co-Founder, SatyaHindi.com, and author of Hindu Rashtra. He tweets at @ashutosh83B

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