Supreme Court 'hijacked' Constitution: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweets ex-Judge RS Sodhi's clip

New Delhi, January 22

The tug of war between the government and the judiciary over the appointment of judges to constitutional courts appears to be intensifying by the day.

A day after Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud controverted the views of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the basic structure doctrine, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju approved of the views of former Delhi High Court Judge RS Sodhi, who accused the Supreme Court of “hijacking” the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself.

Majority’s ‘sane views’

• Law Minister Kiren Rijiju approved of the views of former Delhi High Court Judge RS Sodhi, who accused the Supreme Court of “hijacking” the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself
• Describing the statement as the “voice of a judge”, Rijiju said the majority of the people had similar “sane views”

Rijiju shared a video of Justice Sodhi’s interview in which the retired Delhi High Court Judge said the right to frame laws was with Parliament. Describing the statement as the “voice of a judge”, the Law Minister said the majority of the people had similar “sane views”. “Only people who disregard the provisions of the Constitution and the mandate of the people think that they are above the Constitution of India,” Rijiju said. “… Elected representatives represent the interests of the people and make laws. Our judiciary is independent and our Constitution supreme,” tweeted Rijiju, who earlier described the Collegium system of appointing judges as something “alien” to the Constitution.

In the interview, Justice Sodhi said, “… After hijacking, they (SC) said that we will appoint (judges) ourselves and the government will have no role in it.”

Vice-President Dhankhar has been questioning the SC for striking down the 99th Constitutional Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act that aimed to replace the Collegium system.

A Bench led by Justice SK Kaul has questioned the Centre over the inordinate delay in clearing the names recommended by the Collegium for appointment as judges of the SC and high courts. In a fresh round of confrontation with the Centre, the Collegium had last week rejected the Centre’s objections to the proposed elevation of senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, an openly gay person, as a judge of the Delhi HC and reiterated its recommendations for four other appointments.

While making second reiteration of names of two advocates for appointment as judges of the Calcutta High Court, the Collegium said it was not open for the government to repeatedly send back the same proposal.