Bombay lawyers body moves Supreme Court seeking action against Jagdeep Dhankhar, Kiren Rijiju over remarks on judiciary

Mar 28, 2023

NEW DELHI: The Bombay Lawyers Association on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against a high court decision dismissing its PIL against Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for their remarks on judiciary and the collegium system for appointment of judges.

The lawyers' body has challenged the Bombay High Court's February 9 order of dismissing its plea on the ground that it was not a fit case to invoke the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. Lawyer Ahmed Abdi told PTI that the petition has been filed on Tuesday.

The Bombay Lawyers Association had claimed that Rijiju and Dhankhar showed lack of faith in the Constitution with their remarks and conduct. It had sought orders to restrain Dhankhar from discharging duty as the vice president, and Rijiju from discharging his duty as the cabinet minister for the central government.

The PIL had claimed that the "frontal attack not just on the judiciary but the Constitution'' by the two executive officials has lowered the prestige of the Supreme Court in public.

Rijiju had said the collegium system of appointing judges was "opaque and not transparent". Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had questioned the landmark 1973 Kesavananda Bharati judgement that gave the basic structure doctrine.

Dhankhar had said the verdict set a bad precedent and if any authority questions Parliament's power to amend the Constitution, it would be difficult to say "we are a democratic nation".