Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday expressed deep concern over a recent Supreme Court ruling that set a timeline for the President of India to decide on Bills, saying such a development challenges the foundational principles of democracy.
Speaking to a group of Rajya Sabha interns, Dhankhar questioned the direction in which the country was headed, warning against a scenario where members of the judiciary begin to assume the roles of legislators and the executive, effectively functioning as a “super Parliament” without any accountability.
His remarks came in response to a Supreme Court judgment delivered last week, which, for the first time, stipulated that the President must take a decision on Bills referred to her by a Governor within three months of receiving them. Dhankhar found the ruling deeply troubling, arguing that such directives to the President are outside the purview of judicial authority.
“There is a directive to the President by a recent judgment. Where are we heading? What is happening in the country? We have to be extremely sensitive,” he said. He added that this situation was not what India had envisioned when it chose democracy.
“President being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, becomes law—this is not how our system was designed to function.”
Highlighting the gravity of the issue, the Vice President stated that he never imagined he would witness a time when the judiciary would seemingly extend its mandate beyond constitutional interpretation.
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“So we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament, and absolutely have no accountability because law of the land does not apply to them,” Dhankhar said, calling the development a matter of serious concern.
He emphasised that his apprehensions were not casual but at the “very highest level,” and that such judicial overreach undermines the basic structure of governance.
Dhankhar reminded the gathering that the President of India occupies a highly elevated and constitutionally significant position.
The President, he pointed out, takes an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of India, whereas others—including ministers, the Vice President, Members of Parliament, and even judges—only swear to abide by it. He stressed that issuing directives to the President breaches the delicate balance of power among the three pillars of democracy.
He concluded by pointing out that the judiciary’s constitutional role is to interpret the Constitution, and that too under the framework of Article 145(3), which requires a bench of at least five judges.
Dhankhar suggested that overstepping these boundaries could set dangerous precedents, challenging the spirit and structure of India’s democratic framework.
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