How can CJI be involved in executive appointments, asks Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday wondered how the Chief Justice of India can participate in the selection of the CBI Director or any executive appointment.
Addressing a gathering at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal, he said, “The line between judicial activism and overreach is thin, but the impact on democracy is thick… I say the line is thin, but this thin line is between democracy and despotism… To stir your minds, how can in a country like ours or in any democracy, by statutory prescription, Chief Justice of India participate in the selection of the CBI Director…Can there be any legal rationale for it?,” he said.
“I can appreciate that the statutory prescription took shape because the Executive of the day has yielded to a judicial verdict. But time has come to revisit. This surely does not merge with democracy. How can we involve the CJI with any executive appointment?,” Dhankhar said.
The VP said that his observation is that “executive governance by judiciary is being frequently noticed and discussed nearly in all quarters”.
“For constitutional democracy to survive, institutions must learn to differ without disrupting, and dissent without destroying. Democracy thrives not on institutional isolation but in coordinated autonomy,” he said.
Dhankhar said “accountability is enforceable when executive roles are performed by an elected government. Governments are accountable to the legislature, and periodically accountable to the electorate. If executive governance is outsourced, enforceability of accountability will not be there,” he said, adding that “the high standards set by the Constituent Assembly are today compromised”.
“How can we allow, in the temples of democracy, disturbance and disruption? That means public representatives are not mindful of their constitutional ordinance. How can national interest be overtaken by partisan concerns? How can a confrontationalist stance—often of an irretrievable nature—show the exit door to consensus?,” he said.
