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Opposition leaders have slammed Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for his remarks against the judiciary, made in light of the Supreme Court’s recent order on fixing timeline for the President to grant assent to state bills.
In our democracy, only the Constitution of India is supreme and most elevated. No office—be it that of the President, Prime Minister, or Governor—is above the fetters of constitutional propriety,” said senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, referring to the Supreme Court’s April 8 judgment mandating a three-month deadline for the President to act on bills reserved by governors. He described the ruling as “timely, accurate, courageous, and a correction to the notion that those holding high office are above checks and balances.”
TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee echoed these concerns, accusing Dhankhar of displaying “repeated disregard” for the judiciary. “The statement made by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar regarding Supreme Court judges is highly objectionable and borders on contempt. As a constitutional authority, he is expected to uphold and respect other constitutional institutions,” he said.
Dhankhar on Thursday questioned the judiciary setting a timeline for the president to take decisions and act as a “super Parliament”, saying the Supreme Court cannot fire a “nuclear missile” at democratic forces.
Dhankhar’s strong words to the judiciary came during his speech to Rajya Sabha interns, days after the Supreme Court sought to fix a timeline for the president to grant assent to the bills reserved for her consideration by the governor.
Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal slammed Dhankhar for questioning the judiciary over the timeline for the president to take decisions, saying this is “unconstitutional” and he had never seen any Rajya Sabha chairman make “political statements” of this nature.
A day after Dhankhar used strong words against the judiciary, Sibal asserted that the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman remain equidistant between the opposition and the ruling party, and cannot be the “spokesperson of the 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 with the upper house. You are equidistant between the opposition and the ruling party,” the senior advocate said at a press conference in New Delhi.
“Everything you say must be equidistant. No speaker can be the spokesperson of a party. I don’t say that he (Dhankhar) is but no Speaker in principle can be the spokesperson of any party. If it appears so then the dignity of the chair is lowered,” Sibal asserted.
Slamming Dhankhar for his remarks, Sibal said, “If you give such statements it will look as if judiciary is being taught a lesson. It Is not neutral and not constitutional.”
