New Delhi:
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar presided over Rajya Sabha for the first time during the winter session of parliament on Wednesday, when he brought up the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act.
“A glaring example of severe parliamentary sovereignty compromise and disregard for the people’s mandate.”We need to bear in mind that in a democracy, Basic of any ‘Basic Structure’ is the primacy of the mandate of the people reflected in the Parliament,” wrote the official Twitter handle of VP.
The Vice President said the NJAC Act, which was unanimously passed by the parliament, was later taken down by the Supreme Court in October 2015.
The NJAC Act, passed by parliament in 2015, gave the Center a role in appointing judges, replacing the decades-old Collegium system.
Disagreeing with the Act, petitions demanding its repeal. The pleas contended that the role of government would compromise the judiciary’s independence.
After which, a Constitutional bench struck down the Act while referring to the Emergency of 1995-1997 that was imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led central government.
Earlier, Dhankar, who was also a Senior Advocate, said “Any incursion by one institution into the domain of another has the potential to upset the governance apple cart”.
A glaring instance of severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the mandate of the people.
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) December 7, 2022
We need to bear in mind that in a democracy, Basic of any 'Basic Structure' is the primacy of the mandate of the people reflected in the Parliament. #RajyaSabha
