New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar Sunday cautioned against “incursion into” Parliament’s domain of lawmaking and asserted the “need to ensure there is no sacrilege of either organ”.
Dhankhar was speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Law & Justice to commemorate the Constitution Day celebrations. In 2015, the Modi government had decided to celebrate 26 November as Constitution Day to mark the day Parliament formally adopted the Constitution.
In his speech, Dhankhar reflected on the power of the three organs of the state — Parliament, Executive and Judiciary — and delineated the roles outlined for them under constitutional democracy. “The legislature should be free to enact laws, the executive should be free to implement any law, and the judiciary should be free to interpret laws,” he said.
“Constitutional provision allowing interpretative power to the Supreme Court regarding legislations is a small slit and it cannot be a floodgate and we have to extremely worry about this and I am sure the people with the kind of nationalism they have, these issues will be thrashed out so that Bharat rises and soars,” Dhankhar added.
Constitutional provisions providing for interpretation of law and Constitution is a small slit, it can't be floodgate! #ConstitutionDay pic.twitter.com/S7Enb9Fx0x
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) November 26, 2023
Reflecting on the vision of framers of the Constitution, he said arrogation of authority by one organ of the other was beyond their contemplation.
“Sovereignty of Parliament is synonymous with sovereignty of the nation, the executive of the day survives only if there is strength in Parliament,” said the Vice President, who is also ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Adding that he didn’t want to be a “loud mouth”, Dhankhar stated: “Other institutions also survive only if they are sanctified by Parliament.”
“Therefore, such a body the premise of which, the foundation of which is the mandate of the people, cannot allow any incursion in its domain. That will be disturbing the delicate applecart of governance,” he added.
He hoped the institutions would work in “harmony” with each other since they are currently headed by “farsighted statesmen”.
“We couldn’t be more fortunate than having these illustrious people heading these institutions and, therefore, any aberration coming in the public domain by observation or otherwise will not be soothing to our ears. Which means soothing to the ears of people at large,” he said.
We have illustrious people heading our Executive, Judiciary & Legislative institutions and therefore any aberration coming in public domain by observation or otherwise will not be soothing to our ears which means soothing to the people at large.
I’m working in my own way, in my… pic.twitter.com/emSQZL9sUA
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) November 26, 2023
Invoking Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said, “If you look at what B.R. Ambedkar envisioned, he never thought there could be an incursion into Parliament and we need to ensure there is no sacrilege of either organ.” It was beyond his contemplation, he added.
According to him, when the Constitution was evolved by the Constituent Assembly, the message was loud and clear: “It is in the exclusive domain of Parliament and it is Parliament alone which is the architect of the Constitution to the exclusion of any other agency, be it executive or judiciary.”
“To put it in simple words, Parliament cannot script a judgment of the Supreme Court and similarly the Supreme Court cannot script a law for us,” he added.
Dhankhar maintained that “Parliament is reflective of the will of the people and people (MPs) are there (elected) through a legitimised mechanism.”
He underlined that Parliament is the soul of democracy, authentically representing the will of the people. “Supremacy of Parliament as sole architect of the Constitution is there and not amenable in its task to an intervention by the executive or judiciary. Judiciary also survives when it is sanctified by Parliament,” he said.
The mandate of people, he reiterated, cannot allow any incursion in the will of people.
“Any incursion will be a constitutional aberration,” he warned. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is also a senior Supreme Court advocate, also advocated for “convergence of attitude”.
“I am a foot soldier of the judiciary and independence of judiciary is important to me, and it is unquestionable. But time has come that we have a mechanism for a structured interaction between the heads of affairs so that issues do not come out in the public domain,” he said, adding that governance is “dynamic”, needs “collaborative effort and issues arising between various organs of the State “must be ironed out”.
We must have a mechanism of structured interaction amongst those at the helm of the affairs of such Institutions, so that issues don't come in the public domain.
I am a foot soldier of the #Judiciary. I am from the legal profession.
Judicial independence, like to millions of… pic.twitter.com/n6b8lwrxCj
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) November 26, 2023
He urged elected representatives to “do the job expected of parliamentarians by people such as Dr Ambedkar, which is to weaponise debate, dialogue, discussion and deliberation and not disturb and disrupt (legislative proceedings) as a political strategy”.
“Right now we have the reverse of it. Disruption and disturbance have been weaponised as a political strategy to make proceedings of the house dysfunctional,” he said, adding it is not “soothing to the eyes”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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