DH NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, Mar 25
An all-party meeting was held in Parliament on the issue of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court under the chairmanship of Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Leader of the House JP Nadda and Leader of tbe Opposition in the upper house Mallikarjun Kharge were present in the meeting, along with floor leaders of the DMK, BJD, BRS, CPM, UBT, AGP, TMC, Congress, and BJP, sources said.
According to the sources, the discussion in the meeting centred on key judicial matters in the wake of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act being struck down by the Supreme Court even as it was passed by Parliament and 16 states in 2015.
According to the sources, the Modi government is exploring the revival of the NJAC.
As soon as the Rajya Sabha met for the day, Mr Dhankhar said, ”It concerns the sovereignty of Parliament, the supremacy of Parliament, and whether we are at all relevant. If we effect an amendment in the Constitution, and that is not executable. If a constitutional amendment is not executable, I have no doubt the Parliament is possessed of the power. Any power…in any institution to ensure what emanated from the Indian Parliament, sanctified by a requisite number of State Legislatures, holds the field.”
He said the upper house, keeping its dignity in mind, demonstrating dignified conduct, unanimously created a legal system in 2015, and that constitutional structure that emanated unanimously with one abstention from the Parliament endorsed by state legislatures should be rule of law because it was sanctified by the President by appending her signatures under Article 111.
”Now is the befitting occasion for all of us to reiterate that because that was a visionary step endorsed by Parliament. And imagine if that had taken place, things would have been different,” he said.
Seeking members’ suggestions on a very important point, he noted and added, ”What emanated from Indian Parliament as a historic development with rare convergence of unity since independence found acceptance by needed State Legislatures. We need to reflect on what happened to that. ”
He pointed out that under the Constitution, no provision allows anyone to tinker with that. ”There is no constitutional provision for review or appeal of a constitutional amendment. If there is legislation in the country by parliament or state, judicial review can take place…., whether there is conformity with constitutional provisions.
”Now, before the nation, there are two situations, one, what emanated from the Indian Parliament, duly endorsed by State Legislatures, sanctified by the Hon’ble President by appending signatures under Article 111, and second, is a judicial order.”
He emphasised, ”Now, we are at a crossroads. I strongly urge members to reflect. There can be no breach by any institution of what emanates from Parliament, endorsed by the legislature. And that should again, I reiterate, be the mechanism holding the field. It is time for us, having seen such an extraordinarily painful scenario…… ”
He further said, ”Innocence is something which we take at a very high level till someone is proven guilty. Members would think and therefore, steps taken by me with the benefit of wise counsel and experience of Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the House.”
He said, “The issue undoubtedly is serious enough. We three of us together took note of the developments and also took note of the healthy development that for the first time in unprecedented manner the Chief Justice of India took the initiative to put everything in public domain but then a suggestion emanated from Leader of the Opposition and agreed by Leader of the House that the issue needs to be deliberated at my instance with the floor leaders.”
He expressed the confidence that they would find a way out, because the legislature and judiciary perform optimally when they perform best in their respective realm with expedition.
In a meeting with Mr Nadda and Mr Kharge on Monday, Mr Dhankhar expressed dismay at the incident of a large amount of cash allegedly being found at the home of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court. He also welcomed Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna’s decision to put the material related to the alleged recovery of cash at home in the public domain. He said that Parliament should await the CJI-appointed inquiry committee’s findings.
