Like It Or Not, Supreme Court Is Supreme, Mr Vice President!

Can the VP who narrates the government report card himself not ask the government and its agencies such as the ED, Income Tax and CBI as to what they have done in the judge’s case? Couldn’t they have asked the Chief Justice of either the High Court or the Supreme Court for permission to investigate, if the government thought it necessary? Why did the Vice President have to raise it in the public domain?

The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe. – Article142 of the Constitution of India.

It is always good to debate over any issue affecting the country and this includes the laws passed by the legislature, judgements of the Supreme Court, the decisions by the executive and the coverage by the Press (that includes the electronic media). But these debates, particularly in public domain, can lead to expression of free and frank opinions and not serve as unguided missiles. It is in this context that we must view the ongoing dust storm over the Supreme Court asserting its powers vested by the Constitution under the Article 142 to ensure complete justice.

Records show that the Article 118 which was later numbered as 142 was passed by the Constituent Assembly without debate. This clearly demonstrates the fact that our forefathers had visualised the exigency that would demand the intervention of the Supreme Court for ensuring complete justice. And they might have anticipated situations such as governors sitting indefinitely on Bills passed by the legislature and creating a crisis for governments run by parties which are critical of the ruling party at the Centre. The Constituent Assembly members would not have envisioned that even the people in Constitutional positions would make scathing attacks on the judiciary.

The Vice President who is also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha ceases to be a political party spokesperson that moment he assumes this position, and current VP Jagdeep Dhankar in more than one occasion made statements that break this norm. His inaction against the treasury benches’ interruptions in the House and admonition of the opposition leader and members have invited strong criticism. So much so that the opposition Rajya Sabha members had even moved an impeachment motion against Dhankar – the man occupying the second highest position in the country. The INDIA bloc, 54 signatures on the petition, cited 10 instances of Dhankar’s “unacceptable” behaviour.

The Vice President’s latest bombshell that Article 142, available to judiciary 24x7 has become a “nuclear missile against democratic forces” has caused a nuclear explosion in political and legal circles. These shocking remarks were made at the valedictory of the sixth Rajya Sabha interns’ programme. It is pertinent to note that these interns are supposed to be part of a platform that will connect the people with the legislation adopted by Parliament. Dhankar has the noble intention of taking the youth group’s strength to 500 who will be no less than the Indian Civil Service members and serve as a very special group of ambassadors.

One may wonder as to what kind of impression Dhankar sought to create among these girls and boys about the judiciary. Did not try to influence their minds with his negative views? Was he not wrong in planting his ideas on a group that is also supposed to act as a bridge to connect the people with the Constitutional values?

Newspaper editorials remarks against Dhankar’s attack on the judiciary ranged from ‘Out of Lie’ to ‘irresponsible’ and ‘most improper’. Good.

Dhankar also the RS interns: “You are the future. You are the stakeholders”. And then he went on to say that he was also “addressing the entire youth of the country. In IITs, in IIMs, institutes of excellence, colleges, universities, schools. We have to believe in the nation. We have to believe in the power of we the people. And the power is reflected only through representatives, we have lost track.”

In any case, in these days of media and social media explosion and the BJP’s social media toolkits, such ‘Molotov cocktails’ would go viral in no time and the targeted audiences would get the message.

While the BJP’s intolerance to criticism is well known, Dhankar’s attack on the judiciary stems from the fact that the Supreme Court invoked the Article 142 and tore apart Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi for sitting on bills passed by the State legislature indefinitely. This has given enough fuel to the BJP’s social media machinery to make outrageous attacks on the Supreme Court. The courts ought to have taken suo moto cognisance of these slanderous remarks that lower the judiciary’s esteem.

The apex court ruled that the governor does not have absolute or pocket veto powers and that he has to return the bills to the legislature in case he has any reservations against them. But if the bill reaches him a second time, he has to give his assent or refer to the President.

As legal luminary Kapil Sibal pointed out, the governor does not act on his own. He is aided and advised by the Council of Ministers. And Ravi had no business to hold back the bills.

Dhankar did not specifically take up Ravi’s issue but he made it amply clear when he referred to the strong stance taken by the Supreme Court using Article 142.

Dhankar literally read out the NDA government’s report card at the RS interns event! “’The good thing is the government policies are yielding results. People-centric policies are rewarding to the ordinary man. The ordinary man has a bank account today, a toilet in the house, an internet connection, a gas connection, an electric connection. Has health facilities and education facilities close by. Has connectivity by bus, by train, by air. He is getting the feel of development.”

Then he said: “Let us resolve this day that our democracy is dependent only on constitution and constitution expects all its organs to optimally perform for larger good in concert and coordination, and in their respective domains. So far so good and Dhankar is on record saying that he considers himself lucky to see Modi’s hat-trick as the PM.

He suffixed his attack on the judiciary with this remark: “I am a foot soldier of the judiciary. I have given four decades of my precious life to the judiciary. Three decades as senior advocate. Whenever it comes to challenging the judiciary, I am always on the side of the judiciary. We are proud of our judiciary. It has global recognition. Our judges have gifted talent but something about it needs notice”.

Dhankar also referred to the cash-in-judge’s backyard episode and wondered about the lack of accountability over the delay in investigation. He said: “Is the delay explainable? Condonable! Does it not raise certain fundamental questions? Ordinary situations define rule of law things would have been different. It was only on 21st March disclosed by a newspaper that people of the country were shocked as never before.”

Can the VP who narrates the government report card himself not ask the government and its agencies such as the ED, Income Tax and CBI as to what they have done in the judge’s case? Couldn’t they have asked the Chief Justice of either the High Court or the Supreme Court for permission to investigate, if the government thought it necessary? Why did the Vice President have to raise it in the public domain?

Since the NDA government and Dhankar do not appear to be inseparable, as alleged by the opposition, one question arises is if the Vice President’s speech was used as a test balloon. Even if that is the case, the test results show that what Dhankar’s nuclear-missile jibe was, to say the least, unwarranted.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a YouTube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)