NEW DELHI: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar sharply criticised the judiciary’s increasing use of Article 142 of the Constitution, describing it as a “nuclear missile against democratic forces, available to judiciary 24×7.”
While speaking to a group of young Rajya Sabha interns, Dhankhar questioned the recent Supreme Court directive issued to the President of India, suggesting that such judicial activism breaches the principle of separation of powers.
“We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India — and on what basis?” he asked. “The only right the judiciary has is to interpret the Constitution under Article 145(3), and that too with a bench of five or more judges. How can such a significant order be passed without following this procedure?”
He argued that the judiciary, in its current practice, has taken over legislative and executive roles, thereby creating a system without any democratic accountability.
“The executive is accountable to Parliament and to the people in elections. But if judiciary governs through verdicts, whom do you ask questions? Whom do you vote out?” Dhankhar asked.
He also questioned the current structure of constitutional benches. “When Article 145(3) was created, there were only 8 judges in the Supreme Court — so 5 was a majority. But today, with over 30 judges, does a 5-judge bench still carry the same weight?”
Criticising judicial overreach, he asked, “Are judges now super-legislators, executive functionaries, and lawmakers rolled into one?”
Dhankhar warned that unchecked power in any institution can be dangerous. “Article 142 has become an all-purpose tool — a nuclear missile — which can be fired without scrutiny, without debate, and without any constitutional accountability,” he said.
