Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on January 24 said there will be issues among the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature but they have to be ironed out in a structured manner.
He also lamented that with the Legislature, some amount of “homework” needs to be done as debate and dialogue should replace disruptions and disturbances.
Referring to the imposition of Emergency, he described it as the “darkest, shameful” period of India’s constitutional history.
“We never had those in governance going to that level as to deprive millions of their fundamental rights and putting them in jail,” he said.
Mr. Dhankhar said that was also the time when we expected another organ of the state, the Judiciary, to rise to the occasion.
“Unfortunately, for the Judiciary also it was the darkest period. Nine high courts in this country in one voice took a stand — Emergency or no Emergency, fundamental rights of the people cannot be put on hold. They are ever alive,” he said.
He said people wish that in the ADM, Jabalpur case (which arose from the Emergency imposed in India in 1975), the Supreme Court had not overturned the nine HCs. Two of the judges who were part of that judgment later expressed public regret.
“But friends, there can be no regret allowed when people fail in constitutional positions. When we are in a position of constitutional authority, we have no alibi, we have no escape route. We have to vindicate the trust imposed in us by the Constitution,” he said.
The Vice-President was addressing an event to launch the ‘Hamara Samvidhan Hamara Samman’ campaign of the Law Ministry.
He said the Constitution has given us everything. If the three institutions the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature — remain in their prescribed limits and act accordingly, the talented people of India can do wonders.
Mr. Dhankhar said everyone is in the reach of law, but some people are in doubt.
“I am pained with events that take place, when destruction of public property takes place. We take on the law enforcement agencies and declare we have won,” he said.
The Vice-President noted that there will always be issues among the three organs because we are in a dynamic world.
“But issues have to be ironed out, have to be moderated. They don’t have to be on public platform. They have to be in a structured manner. But with Legislature, we need to do some homework,” he said.
Mr. Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairperson, said debates and discussions have to replace disruptions in Parliament and State Legislatures.
“We had a great legislation. Earlier we used to have ‘dand vidhan’, now we have ‘nyay vidhan’. But to my utter pain, the legal luminaries, the legal eagles...none came forward in the Rajya Sabha to make a contribution,” he said while referring to the debate in the Upper House on three criminal laws which will soon replace the IPC, the CrPC and the Evidence Act.
“Your participation was not there,” he said.
