Bombay Lawyers Association through its president Advocate Ahmed Abid has filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju for their comments against the judiciary and the Supreme Court.

Questions raised on the credibility of the Supreme Court:

In the PIL, lawyers' body sought action against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju. The petition said that the statements of people holding responsible positions are showing lack of faith in the Constitution by attacking constitutional institutions including the Supreme Court.

The petition by the Bombay Lawyers Association states that the irresponsible statements have brought down the reputation of the Supreme Court in public. Please tell that Kiren Rijiju repeatedly questioned the Collegium system. Even Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar called the repeal of the NJAC Act a serious step, questioning the "basic structure" doctrine on the powers of the judiciary.

"The judiciary has been frontally attacked in the most derogatory and derogatory language without resorting to any remedy available under the Constitution," the petition said. Along with this, the petition states, “The Vice President and the Law Minister openly attacked the collegium system and the principle of basic structure in a public forum.”

The plea said that such unbecoming behavior by responsible persons holding constitutional posts is bringing down the glory of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the public at large. Let us tell you that Vice President Dhankhar had given his statement last month on the landmark 1973 decision of the Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharti case. This court had ruled that the Parliament has the power to amend the Constitution, but not its basic structure.

On the court's remark in the judgment, Dhankhar had said that it would be difficult to answer the question "are we a democratic nation". While presiding over the Rajya Sabha during the winter session of Parliament in December 2022, Dhankhar termed the Supreme Court's repeal of the NJAC Act as a violation of the "mandate of the people".

In November last year, Kiren Rijiju had termed the collegium system of appointing judges as "opaque" and "not accountable", saying they would have to work with the current system until the government came up with an alternative mechanism. Let us tell you that the High Court will soon hear the PIL filed against the Union Minister and the Vice President.