‘Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against democratic forces’: Vice President Dhankhar

NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said India cannot have a situation where the judiciary directs the President, adding that Article 142 of the Constitution has become a “nuclear missile against democratic forces for the judiciary.”

Speaking at the Valedictory Function of the sixth Rajya Sabha Internship Programme at the Vice-President’s Enclave, Dhankhar proposed an amendment to Article 145(3), which deals with the composition of the bench required to decide substantial questions of constitutional law.

“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. When Article 145(3) was there, the number of judges in the Supreme Court was eight, 5 out of 8, now 5 out of 30 and odd. But forget about it; the judges who issued a mandamus virtually to the President and presented a scenario that it would be the law of the land have forgotten the power of the Constitution. How can that combination of judges deal with something under Article 145(3) if preserved, it was then for five out of eight. We also need to make amends for that now. Five out of eight would mean interpretation will be by majority. Well, five constitutes more than the majority in eight. But leave that aside. Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against Democratic forces, available to the judiciary 24 x 7,” Dhankar said.

He further said a structured platform will be set up to provide the public with comprehensive and authentic information on legislative activities in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

“I will work out with the Hon’ble Speaker, and in about two months’ time, we will launch it. So, people of the country will have the benefit of having authentic information from a sanctified platform about Members of Parliament, and right from Constituent Assembly debates to the current ones. You will also have access to archives that are privy to the Indian Parliament,” Dhankhar said.

Dhankhar’s remarks come days after the Supreme Court ruled on April 8 that Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi’s decision to withhold 10 bills and reserve them for the President’s assent was “illegal and erroneous in law” and liable to be set aside.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed that the Governor must act based on the aid and advice of the State Legislature.

The top court gave its order in response to the Tamil Nadu government’s petition challenging the Governor’s refusal to assent to bills passed by the State Assembly.

The court stated that when a bill is returned and re-enacted by the Assembly, the Governor must give assent and cannot refuse it unless the bill has been changed.

“Action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary, and thus the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re-presented to the Governor,” the judgment stated.

The court had reserved its judgment on February 10 on the petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu government, some of which dated back to January 2020. (ANI)