Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on Thursday took exception to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's remarks about "calculated attempt underway to delegitimize the judiciary" and said the "observations are severely inappropriate, indicating lack of faith in democracy, making this exceptional response unavoidable."
He referred to her remarks that "a high constitutional authority had been enlisted to making speeches attacking the judiciary on various grounds" and said these are "far distanced from my reflections" and "delegitimizing the judiciary is beyond my contemplation".
Dhankar said he expects leaders across the political spectrum to bear in mind not to subject high constitutional offices "to partisan stances".
Dhankar said his attention had been drawn to Sonia Gandhi's remarks made on Wednesday at a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Party.
"The statement imparted by the Chairperson of the UPA is far distanced from my reflections. Delegitimizing the Judiciary is beyond my contemplation. It is pillar of democracy. I would urge and expect leaders across the political spectrum to bear in mind not to subject high constitutional offices to partisan stances," he said in a statement in the House.
Sonia Gandhi had launched a strong attack on the Modi government, saying "silence on matters of serious concern has become the defining feature of this government's tenure".
She said while "blocking" debate, the government "is also actively engaged in targeting the opposition and any questioning voices, manipulating the media and undermining the institutions".
"A troubling new development is the calculated attempt underway to delegitimize the judiciary. Ministers - and even a high constitutional authority - have been enlisted to making speeches attacking the judiciary on various grounds. It is quite clear that this is not an effort to provide reasonable suggestions for improvement. Rather, it is an effort to reduce the standing of the judiciary in the eyes of the public," Sonia Gandhi had said.
Referring to his maiden address in the House at the beginning of the winter session of Parliament in which he had had slammed the Supreme Court's NJAC verdict, Dhankar said he had emphasised that parliamentary sovereignty is inviolable.
"You would recall that in my maiden address to this august House, I had underlined that in any democracy, parliamentary sovereignty is inviolable. We all here are under oath to preserve it. Power of the Parliament of the day to act in exercise of its constituent power to amend by way of addition, variation or repeal, any provision of this Constitution in accordance with the procedure is unqualified and supreme, not amenable to executive attention or judicial intervention, except for the purpose of deciding any case involving a substantial question of law as to interpretation of the Constitution envisaged in Article 145(3) of the Constitution".
Dhankar said parliamentary sovereignty is quintessential to democracy and is non-negotiable.
"Subscribing to this is not optional if democracy has to sustain and blossom. I had emphasized that democracy blossoms and flourishes when its three facets the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive, scrupulously adhere to their respective domains," he said.
"The sublimity of the doctrine of separation of powers is realized when the Legislature, Judiciary and the Executive optimally function in tandem and togetherness, meticulously ensuring scrupulous adherence to respective jurisdictional domain. Further I had indicated that this House is eminently-positioned to take affirmative steps to bring out congeniality amongst these wings of governance," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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