Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar raises questions over Supreme Court 'undoing' NJAC Act

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, December 2

Amid a stand-off between the government and the Collegium over judicial appointments, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday raised questions over “undoing” of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and wondered if a constitutional amendment unanimously passed by Parliament reflecting the will of the people could be “undone” by the Supreme Court.

“In the year 2015-16, Parliament was dealing with a constitutional amendment Act and as a matter of record the entire Lok Sabha voted unanimously. There was no abstention and no dissension. And the amendment was passed. In the Rajya Sabha it was unanimous, there was one abstention. We the people… their ordainment was converted into a constitutional provision,” he said.

Delivering the 8th Dr LM Singhvi Memorial Lecture on ‘Universal Adult Franchise: Translating India’s Political Transformation into a Social Transformation’, Dhankhar said, “Power of the people, which was expressed through a legitimate platform, was undone. The world does not know of any such instance.

“I appeal to the people here, they constitute a judicial elite class, thinking minds, intellectuals — please find out a parallel in the world where a constitutional provision can be undone,” he said in the presence of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, several Supreme Court judges, Union ministers, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and several lawyers.

CJI for participatory democracy

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said every form of ‘elite understanding’ of the democratic process that educated people were better decision-makers must be rejected. He said the concept of universal adult franchise was linked to the idea of participatory democracy and individuals, whom the society ‘despised’ as being uneducated, had shown tremendous political acumen and awareness of local problems