Parliament is supreme: Jagdeep Dhankhar takes aim at Top Court
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New Delhi (PTI): Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday asserted that every word spoken by a constitutional authority is guided by supreme national interest, as he hit out at his critics for questioning his remarks on a recent Supreme Court order.
Dhankhar also said that efforts of forces working against the country to tarnish and run down institutions should be neutralised, "be it that of the presidency".
Asserting that Parliament is supreme, Dhankhar said, "There is no visualisation in the Constitution of any authority above Parliament. Parliament is supreme... Let me tell you, it is as supreme as every individual in the country."
A top court bench recently prescribed a three-month timeline for the president of India to decide on Bills reserved by governors for her nod.
Reacting to the directive, Dhankhar had said that the judiciary cannot play the role of a "super Parliament" and get into the domain of the executive.
Addressing a Delhi University event, he said every word spoken by a constitutional functionary is guided by the supreme sublime interest of the nation.
"I find it conceivably intriguing that some have recently reflected that constitutional offices can be ceremonial or ornamental. Nothing can be far distanced from a wrong understanding of the role of everyone in this country -- constitutional functionary or a citizen," he said.
Stating that everyone of them has a role, he said, "The soul of democracy resides and pulsates in every citizen. Democracy will blossom. Its values will get heightened. When citizen is alert, citizen contributes and what a citizen contributes, there is no substitute for that."
Dhankhar also said that there is no visualisation in the Constitution of any authority above Parliament.
"Part of 'We the People' is an atom in democracy and that atom has atomic power. That atomic power is reflected during elections and that is why we are a democratic nation," Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairperson, underlined.
Voicing concern over the recent Supreme Court ruling prescribing a timeline for the president to decide on Bills, Dhankhar on Friday said India had not bargained for a democracy where judges will legislate and perform executive functions and act as a "super Parliament".
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had, for the first time, prescribed that the President should decide on the Bills reserved for her consideration by governors within three months from the date such reference is received.
"There is a directive to the president by a recent judgement... We never bargained for democracy for this day. President being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, becomes law," Dhankhar said.
The vice-president was criticised for questioning the judiciary, with critics terming his remarks "unconstitutional".
In an apparent response to Dhankhar's "super Parliamet" remark, a top court bench on Monday said that "as it is, we are alleged of encroaching upon the parliamentary and executive functions".
Justice B R Gavai, who was heading a bench also comprising Justice Augustine George Masih, made a similar observation in another matter.
While one matter was over the recent violence in West Bengal during anti-Waqf law protests, the other plea sought a direction to the Centre to take appropriate steps to prohibit streaming of sexually explicit and pornographic content on OTT and social media platforms.
While hearing the plea on online content, Justice Gavai said, "Who can control it? It is for the Union (government) to frame a regulation in that regard."
Gavai is set to be the next chief justice of India.
In a related development, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said everything the apex court said was consistent with the country's constitutional values and guided by national interest.
Sibal's remarks in a post on X came soon after Dhankhar asserted that every word spoken by a constitutional functionary was guided by supreme national interest.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
