'Supreme Court breaching its boundaries': BJP sharpens attack, targets CJI Sanjiv Khanna

NEW DELHI: After Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar questioned Supreme Court, a BJP leader has added fuel to the fire, saying Parliament should stop functioning if the apex court acts like it. Targeting Chief Justice of India, he said, "Sanjiv Khanna is responsible for all the civil wars happening in this country."
Taking aim at Supreme Court on Friday, seasoned BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey in a cryptic post on X wrote, "Kanoon yadi Supreme Court hi banayega to Sansad Bhavan bund kar dena chahiye (Parliament should be closed down if the Supreme Court has to make the laws)."

Later today, Dubey said that the Supreme Court is responsible for inciting religious wars in the country. "The Supreme Court is going beyond its limits. If one has to go to the Supreme Court for everything, then Parliament and State Assembly should be shut," he added.
"How can you give direction to the appointing authority? The President appoints the Chief Justice of India. The Parliament makes the law of this country. You will dictate that Parliament? How did you make a new law? In which law is it written that the President has to take a decision within three months? This means that you want to take this country towards anarchy. When the Parliament sits, there will be a detailed discussion on this," he further said.

The BJP leader also criticised the apex court over Article 377, saying, "there was an Article 377 in which homosexuality is a big crime. The Trump administration has said that there are only two sexes in this world, either male or female. Whether it is Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh, all believe that homosexuality is a crime. One fine morning, the Supreme Court said that we abolish this case."
"Article 141 says that the laws we make, the judgments we give, are applicable from the lower court to the Supreme Court. Article 368 says that Parliament has the right to make all laws and the Supreme Court has the right to interpret the law," he added.


Opposition slams Dubey's statement
Congress MP slammed Dubey's remark saying that "BJP is trying to weaken the Supreme Court." "Constitutional functionaries, ministers, BJP MPs are speaking against the Supreme Court as the Supreme Court is saying one thing that when a law is made, you should not go against the basic structure of the constitution and if the law is against the constitution, we will not accept it. Deliberately, the Supreme Court is being targeted as in many issues like electoral bonds, the Supreme Court has said that what has been done by the government is unconstitutional," he added.

'His attack on the Supreme Court is not acceptable'
"This is a defamatory statement against the Supreme Court. Nishikant Dubey is a person who continuously demolishes all other institutions. Now, he has attacked the Supreme Court. I hope that the Supreme Court judges will take this into notice as he is not speaking in Parliament but outside it. His attack on the Supreme Court is not acceptable," Congress leader Manickam Tagore told ANI.
Congress MP Imran Masood also criticised BJP leader's statement and said it was "unfortunate."
"The kind of statements that are coming against the Supreme Court are very unfortunate...This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has given a decision against the full majority government...This frustration is incomprehensible," Masood said.
Advocate and Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "It is a matter of great sadness if an MP questions the Supreme Court or any court. In our legal system, the final word is not of the government, it is of the Supreme Court. If someone does not understand this, then it is a matter of great sadness."
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, "He has made a very shoddy statement. I hope that tomorrow only, the Supreme Court will initiate suo-moto contempt proceedings against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and send him to jail. Whenever any judge gives a judgment in favour of the BJP, they are sent to the Rajya Sabha, and now, when a judge gave an instruction that the law should be followed and governors should not sit indefinitely on bills, the BJP has used all its resources to defame the judges and attack the Supreme Court."
BJP defends Nishikant's remark
BJP's Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra said, "On the Manipur issue, the Supreme Court took a suo motu cognisance, but we are seeing that several parts of West Bengal are burning, but the eyes of the Supreme Court are closed. The entire country is looking at the Supreme Court that the SC would give direction to the Govt to impose President's rule in West Bengal, but the Supreme Court is silent."

Dubey's remarks came amid hearings on several pleas ongoing in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. Parliament passed the Bill in the first week of April.
Meanwhile, Centre has decided not to implement some of its contentious provisions till the next date of hearing after court raised several concerns over them.
The timing of Dubey's remark is also noteworthy as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar recently voiced strong disapproval of Supreme Court's judgement after it set a timeline for the President to take decision on the bills sent to her.
“We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India and on what basis?” Dhankhar questioned SC while speaking to the sixth batch of Rajya Sabha interns at the Vice-President’s Enclave on Thursday.
"There is a directive to the President by a recent judgement. Where are we heading? What is happening in the country? We have to be extremely sensitive. It is not a question of someone filing a review or not. 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 added.
"President being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, it becomes law. So we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament, and absolutely have no accountability because law of the land does not apply to them," he further said.
However, opposition parties lauded court's observation over the Waqf Act and direction to President.