Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar questions judiciary’s role in executive appointments, calling CJI’s involvement in selecting CBI Director a violation of constitutional balance.
Kochi: Today, on July 7, Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, has once again raised serious concerns about the increasing role of the judiciary in matters traditionally handled by the executive.
Speaking to law students at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi, Dhankhar strongly criticised the involvement of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the appointment of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), terming it a disruption of the constitutional balance of power.
According to Section 4 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE Act), the procedure for appointing the CBI Director involves a high-powered selection committee.
This provision, introduced through the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act of 2013, mandates that the committee include the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by the CJI.
Expressing strong disagreement with this setup, Vice President Dhankhar remarked,
“I am aghast that a functionary of the executive like the CBI Director is appointed with the participation of the Chief Justice of India. Why should an executive appointment be made by anyone else other than the executive? Can this happen under the Constitution? Is this happening elsewhere in the world?”
He addressed the law students directly, urging them to take an active role in raising their voice against what he called a constitutional imbalance. “Use your pen,” he encouraged them.
The event was attended by prominent figures including Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, State Law Minister P Rajeev, Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu, and NUALS Vice Chancellor Prof (Dr) GB Reddy.
It was part of a student engagement initiative designed to connect future legal professionals with pressing issues in constitutional governance.
As part of this initiative, the Vice President challenged the students to write on two important constitutional topics: one on Why we celebrate Constitution Day on November 26 – its origins and significance, and the second on Constitutional Hathya Divas (June 25, 1975) which marks the declaration of Emergency in India.
He added that the winners of these challenges would be invited to Parliament.
During his address, Dhankhar also referred to William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, comparing a recent judicial controversy to the infamous betrayal in the play.
He said the judiciary had its own “Ides of March” on the night of March 14 and 15, when a large amount of cash was allegedly found at a judge’s official residence. He expressed shock that even after such a discovery, no First Information Report (FIR) had been filed.
“The world looks at us as a mature democracy where there has to be rule of law, equality before law which means every crime must be investigated. If the money is so huge in volume, we have to find out. Is it tainted money? What is the source of this money? How was it stocked in the official residence of a judge? It belonged to whom? I do hope an FIR will be registered. We must go to the root of the matter because for democracy, it matters that our judiciary, in whom the faith is unshakable, its very foundations have been shaken,”
he said, expressing concern over the integrity and accountability of the judicial system.
He continued,
“How was it stocked in the official residence of a judge? It belonged to whom? I do hope an FIR will be registered.”
His comments referred to the controversy involving Justice Yashwant Varma, where large sums of cash were reportedly recovered, yet no legal action has been initiated so far due to a Supreme Court judgment from the early 1990s that restricts executive action in such matters.
While reiterating his respect for judicial independence, the Vice President did not shy away from criticising the trend of post-retirement appointments of judges, which he described as being arbitrary and potentially harmful to judicial neutrality.
He called this system a form of favouritism, where select judges may be rewarded with prestigious roles after retirement.
Concluding his address, Dhankhar encouraged the students to become defenders of the Constitution and active contributors to policy and nation-building.
He reminded them that their future roles in the legal system would be crucial to preserving the balance of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
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