New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday raised serious concerns over a recent Supreme Court ruling that sets a timeline for the President to decide on bills sent for her approval by state governors. He said such directions undermine the constitutional roles of different branches of government.
Speaking to a group of Rajya Sabha interns in the capital, Dhankhar said, “There is a directive to the President by a recent judgement. 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.”
Last week, the Supreme Court, in a first, ruled that the President must respond to bills reserved for her consideration by the governor within three months of receiving them.
Dhankhar strongly objected to this, stating that India cannot have a system where the judiciary assumes the roles of other branches of government. “So we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament, and absolutely have no accountability because law of the land does not apply to them,” he remarked.
He added that his concerns were at the “very highest level” and said he never imagined witnessing such a development in his lifetime.
Highlighting the constitutional position of the President, Dhankhar said the President swears an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,” while others, including ministers, judges, and parliamentarians, take an oath to abide by it.
“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 …” he said, questioning the legal foundation of the Supreme Court’s directive.
VP On Cash Discovery At Judges’ House
Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed serious concern over the incident involving alleged recovery of burnt currency notes from the residence of a Delhi High Court judge. He questioned the legal basis of the Supreme Court-appointed commission probing the matter, stating that “the Constitution of India has accorded immunity from prosecution only to the Honourable President and the Honourable Governors,” and asked, “how come a category beyond the law has secured this immunity?”
Dhankhar criticized the delay in the public disclosure of the March 14-15 incident, saying it only came to light through a newspaper report on March 21. “Is the delay explainable? Condonable? Does it not raise certain fundamental questions?” he asked, describing the public’s reaction as “shocked as never before.”
“Thereafter, fortunately, in the public domain, we had input from an authoritative source, the Supreme Court of India. And the input indicated culpability. Input did not lead to doubt that something was amiss. Something required to be investigated. Now the nation waits with bated breath. The nation is restive because one of our institutions, to which people have always looked up with highest respect and deference, was put in the dock,” IANS quoted VP as saying.