Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar during a meeting with Leader of the House J.P. Nadda and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in his chamber at Parliament House in New Delhi. Photo: X@VPIndia via PTI
Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday (March 24, 2025) held a meeting with Leader of the House and Union Minister J.P. Nadda as well as Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on judicial accountability, in the backdrop of allegation of discovery of “sacks” of half-burnt currency notes from the official premises of a Delhi High Court judge.
Mr. Dhankhar said they decided to await the outcome of the Chief Justice of India (CJI)-appointed in-house inquiry panel before before moving ahead with the issue.
The two leaders held closed-door consultations with the Chairman in his chamber at 11.30 a.m., but Mr. Dhankhar’s video statement was released by his office.
Meeting on NJAC
The meeting came in the wake of Mr. Dhankhar recalling the political parties’ “unprecedented consensual support” to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in October 2015.
A staunch critic of the Supreme Court’s order that struck down the NJAC Act, Mr. Dhankhar said he would call a meeting of the floor leaders of all parties to discuss the NJAC issue and take it forward. Mr. Kharge had suggested that the issue be deliberated with floor leaders, he added.
Praising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for being “impactful and transparent [on the cash recovery row],” Mr. Dhankhar said: “ It is for the first time since Independence that a Chief Justice of India has in a transparent, accountable manner put all material available to him in public domain and shared it without keeping anything with the court.”
Calling it a step in the right direction, the Chairman said, “Constitution of a committee by the Chief Justice of India and the alertness he has reflected is also a factor that needs consideration. Institutions like judiciary and legislature serve their purpose best when their in-house mechanism is effective, fast and upholding public trust.”
“I have indicated firmly that these steps taken so far by the Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, are unprecedented if we go by past performance, and no effort will be spared to make available in public domain by way of an inquiry what could possibly be the requirement in such a challenging situation that is agitating the minds of members of the judiciary, members of the Bar, parliamentarians and public at large,” the Chairman said.
The reference point for Monday’s meeting was the observations made by the Chairman in the Rajya Sabha on March 21, while responding to Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh over the cash recovery row.
Mr. Dhankhar had referred to the mechanism for judicial appointments after the passage of the NJAC Act in 2014.
On March 21, he told the Rajya Sabha, “You all will recollect the mechanism that was passed by this House with near unanimity, with no dissension, only one abstention in the Rajya Sabha, all political parties converging and going in for the initiative of the government. I wish to find out the status of that which emanated from Indian Parliament made sacrosanct by the endorsement of 16 State Assemblies in the country and signed by the Hon’ble President under Article 111 of the Constitution.”
Neither the Union Government had made any official comment on the possibility of reviving the NJAC Bill again nor had the Opposition made its stance public on whether or not the Bill would get near-unanimous support like it did in 2014.
However, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said the Centre may use the controversy surrounding the alleged discovery of bundles of cash in the outhouse of the Delhi High Court judge to push for greater control over judicial appointments.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Finance Bill, Ms. Moitra claimed that the uproar in the media was part of a larger effort to revive the NJAC and replace the Collegium system to appoint Supreme Court and High Court judges.
Published – March 25, 2025 12:14 am IST