DHANKAR'S 'DHAMKI': Can't allow judiciary to run down Parl says Dhankar

New Delhi: Virtually censuring the judiciary, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said 'one-upmanship and public posturing' from judicial platforms is not good and these institutions must know how to conduct themselves, while pointing to the apex court's remarks on the issue of the collegium system.

"If any organisation strikes down a law by Parliament, then it is not good for the democracy. And it would be difficult to say we are a democratic nation," he said, addressing the 83rd All India Presiding Officers Conference in Jaipur. As presiding officers of legislatures, 'we cannot have an Ostrich-like stance' on judiciary-legislature relations, he said.

Dhankar, who is the Rajya Sabha chairman, again criticised the NJAC Act scrapping in 2015 and also questioned the landmark 1973 Kesavananda Bharati case verdict, saying it set a wrong precedent and that he disagrees with the Supreme Court ruling that Parliament can amend the Constitution but not its basic structure.

Parliamentary sovereignty cannot be permitted to be diluted or compromised by the executive or the judiciary, he said in his strongest remarks yet against alleged judicial interference in the working of Parliament.

Speaking in the same vein, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the judiciary is expected to follow the principle of separation of powers as defined in the Constitution.

"Legislatures in our country have always respected the powers of the judiciary. The judiciary is also expected to follow the principle of separation and balance of powers conferred by the Constitution," Birla said.

Dhankhar, who has criticised in the House and outside the striking down of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act by the apex court, said it was 'a scenario perhaps unparalleled in the democratic history of the world'.

"The executive is ordained to be in compliance with the constitutional prescription emanating from Parliament. It was obligated to adhere to the NJAC. Judicial verdict cannot run it down," he said. His statement comes in the backdrop of a raging debate on the issue of appointment to the higher judiciary with the government questioning the current Collegium system and the Supreme Court defending it.