Kapil Sibal’s “Indira Gandhi” Reply To Jagdeep Dhankhar’s President Remark

New Delhi:

A series of pointed remarks by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar concerning the judiciary has prompted an equally sharp response from senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP, Kapil Sibal.

Last week, for the first time, the Supreme Court ordered that the President should decide on the bills reserved for her consideration by the governor within a period of three months from the date on which such reference is received.

Mr Dhankhar claimed that the judiciary was overstepping its bounds by invoking Article 142 – a provision that empowers the Supreme Court to issue orders necessary to do “complete justice” in any matter before it. The Vice President described Article 142 as a “nuclear missile against democratic forces available to the judiciary 24×7”.

“We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India and on what basis? The only right you have under the Constitution is to interpret the Constitution under Article 145(3). There, it has to be five judges or more… Article 142, Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against Democratic forces, available to judiciary 24 x 7,” Mr Dhankhar said.

Mr Sibal recalled the 1975 Supreme Court judgment that invalidated then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s election. “People would remember that when the Supreme Court’s decision came regarding the election of Indira Gandhi, only one judge – Justice Krishna Iyer – gave the decision, and she was unseated,” he said. “That was acceptable to Dhankhar ji, but now a two-judge bench ruling against the government is being questioned?”