Reminds Congress that Indira Gandhi government had turned down Supreme Court recommendations

Reminds Congress that Indira Gandhi government had turned down Supreme Court recommendations.

Breaking his silence over the government's decision to send back a recommendation of the Supreme CourtCollegium for reconsideration, Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said, "the government can offer relevant inputs."

In a detailed Facebook post, Mr. Jaitley also criticised the Congress party for creating "hue and cry" over the government's decision and recalled instances of judges being superseded and how attempts were made to alter judgements during past Congress regimes.

"The executive can give inputs, it can even refer a recommendation back with relevant inputs for reconsideration but is eventually bound by the recommendations. This is contrary to the text of the Constitution. The hue and cry made by my friends in the Congress Party recently when the Government referred a case back for reconsideration, fades into the oblivion. It is part of the much diluted role of an elected Government that relevant inputs be brought to the notice of the Collegium. This is in consonance with democratic accountability," he wrote in his post.

Mr. Jaitley's post is a clear reference to the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as a Supreme Court judgewhich the Modi government returned for reconsideration.

Mr. Jaitley narrated past instances of the government under Indira Gandhi turning down the recommendations of the top court.

"Chief Justice Hidayatullah recommended the names of Justice S.P. Kotwal, the Chief Justice of Bombay; Justice M.S. Menon, Chief Justice of Kerala to the Supreme Court. The executive did not respond to either of the two names and ignored the recommendations. The Chief Justice meekly submitted and never questioned the inaction," he said.

Crucial tussle

Citing a book that documents the progress of the landmark Kesavananda Bharati case that defined the basic structure of the Constitution of India, Mr. Jaitley argued that the then Congress government had tried to subvert the independence of judiciary and give power to Parliament to alter the basic tenets of the Constitution.

Recalls episodes

"When a Judge asked counsel a question, someone with an alternate opinion on the bench would answer it. It was a 13 judge bench and the obvious object of both sides in a dividing bench was to reach the figure of 7 for the law to be laid down. There are several interesting episodes which need to be stated," he said.

The Minister recounted various delaying tactics including hospitalisation of a sitting judge so that then Chief Justice S.M. Sikri, who was due to retire, couldn't deliver the judgement.

"Finally came the judgement day. Six judges held that fundamental rights were unamendable. There was an implied limitation on the power of Parliament to amend. Six others held that Parliament had power to amend every Article of the Constitution. The thirteenth judge H.R. Khanna held that the implied limitation on the power to amend was in relation to the basic structure of the Constitution. The opinion of one judge thus became the law," he wrote.

Source :The Hindu