Judiciary bid to interfere in House amendment must be repelled: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, December 13

Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said the “judiciary had no right to intervene if an amendment was made in the Constitution by Parliament”.

Intervening in the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023, Dhankhar said that in the case of legislation passed by Parliament, the judiciary had “a method of intervention by way of judicial review”.

If an attempt was made by it to interfere in an amendment in the Constitution made by Parliament, such an attempt must be “strongly repelled”, Dhankhar said.

Without specifying the details, the Chairman said, “There was an occasion where we discussed an important Bill and I was looking right, left and centre that someone would reflect. Can the highest court of the land make an interim legal arrangement that is 100 per cent mandate of this House? I am sure we will engage more seriously when it comes to law-making.”