Speaking during the celebration of Constitution Day 2023, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, the Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankar has said that the Constitution's sole architect is the Parliament. Drawing a clear demarcation, the Vice-President emphasized that neither the judiciary nor the executive possesses the authority to tamper with this foundational document.

In his speech, Dhankar stated, "When the constitution was evolved by the constituent assembly, the message was loud and clear -it is in the exclusive domain of Parliament. Parliament alone is architect of the Constitution to the exclusion of another agency be it executive or judiciary. To put it in layman's language, Parliament can’t script a judgment of the Supreme Court and similarly, Supreme Court can’t script law for us. That's our domain."

Parliament's Unassailable Supremacy: Continuing Dhankar stated, "Parliament is reflective of the will of the people. People who sit in Parliament are there because through a legitimise mechanism on a proper platform the people have expressed their mandate and therefore Parliament is the soul of democracy, authentically reflecting the mood of the people and their opinions. The supremacy of parliament as the sole architect of the Constitution is unquestionable. It is not amenable in its task of intervention either from the executive or the judiciary."

He further added, "Sovereignty of Parliament is synonymous with sovereignty of the nation and the same is impregnable. Why do I say so? The executive of the day survives only if it has strength in the Parliament. I don’t want to be loud mouth but the other institution also survives only when it is sanctified by the Parliament. Therefore, such a body, the foundation of which is the mandate of the people, cannot allow any incursion in its domain that will be disturbing the delicate apple card of governance in democracy. Friends, any incursion in the exclusive domain of Parliament will be constitutional aberration, apart from being antithetical to democratic essence and values. Democracy is optimally nurtured when state organs like the Executives, the Judiciary and the Legislature work in harmony, tandem and togetherness. There is well defined constitutional domain for the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. It is constitutional mandate that all these organs of the State function in their respective domain."

Nurturing Harmony: Continuing Dhankar stated, "Governance is dynamic, given the emergence of challenges and technological onslaughts. There are bound to be differences, there are bound to be issues. Issues have to be ironed out. In a country like ours which has to show path to the entire world, there must be convergence of attitude amongst these three institutions in particular. If there are differences which are bound to be there, such differences and resolution thereof must take place by taking recourse to sublime statesmanship. Public posturing or generating perception as a strategy to deal with such differences is best avoided. I can assure you that I am a foot soldier of judiciary. I am from legal profession. Judicial independence, like to millions of people in the country, is very dear to me. We want spinally strong Judiciary and I can say without fear of contradiction that our Judiciary is one of the best in the world. I have appreciated the innovative steps that have been taken. The independence of Judiciary is unquestioned but time has come that we must have a mechanism of structured interaction amongst those who are at the helm of the affairs of such Institutions, so that issues don't come in public domain."

Caution Urged as Supreme Court Grapples with Interpretation of Constitution: On this aspect, the Vice-President stated, "Constitutional provisions providing for interpretation of law or Constitution to the Supreme Court, is a small slit. It cannot be the floodgate. We have to be extremely wary about it and I am sure people around, with the kind of talent they have, with the kind of spirit of nationalism they are filled with, these issues will be thrashed out and we will be in a situation to have our institutions functioning in harmony and togetherness in tandem to achieve our Bharat rise to the highest level."

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar also remarked upon the imposed emergency period, expressing his viewpoint, he stated, "Over the years, Constitution has been a beacon of hope and freedom and except, and that was a darkest period, a period we would like to forget. Young students, boys and girls may not be aware of it, and that was proclamation of emergency by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi in June 1975, the darkest period in post independent history of democratic India. Imposition of Emergency was outrageous trampling of constitutional essence and spirit. It was no less than sacrilege of the constitution. A document so dear, now to 1.4 billion people."

Also on the abrogation of Article 370, he stated, "Article 370 was the only article of Indian constitution that was not drafted by the Drafting Committee. All other articles were drafted and Dr.Ambedkar declined to draft it. I would urge you to go through his communication on the point and look at how this article 370, a temporary Article of the Constitution made the life of people of Jammu and Kashmir hell. We are beholden to the wisdom of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and sagacious approach of the Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah that article is no longer in our Constitution. In a sense, it is a tribute to Dr.Ambedkar that what he did not approve of, has been honoured by the Indian Parliament with the vision of the Prime Minister."

In April this year, the Vice President had made a similar remark while addressing the audience at the inauguration of the Civil Services Day, 2023 that it is the responsibility of the Parliament to safeguard India’s national sovereignty and cultural integrity, from any kind of threats, internal or external and that the Parliament alone is in charge of legislation and competent to enforce it. "Legislation is the exclusive preserve of the Parliament, the most authentic reflector of the will of the people at large", he had said.

In his first address in the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar had said that the Supreme Court's Judgment in the NJAC Case was a "glaring instance of severe compromise of parliament sovereignty and disregard of the mandate of the people of, which this house and the Loksabha are custodians."

He had also said about the Basic Structure Doctrine that the Kesavananda Bharati Judgment set a bad precedent.

Vice President Jagdeep DhankarConstitution DaySupreme Court

Ramey Krishan Rana