Who is damaging Indian democracy more, the judiciary or the executive? This question arises in the context of the Supreme Court’s historical verdict on the issue of the role of governors and their power to hold duly passed bills from the assembly. The Supreme Court has categorically stated through its verdict that governors of opposition-ruled states have gone rogue, and despite holding a constitutional high post, they are indulging in politics in partnership with the centre and weakening democracy. Whereas the way Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and a few leaders of the BJP have targeted the Supreme Court tells a different story.

Vice-President Dhankhar has gone to the extent of using the metaphor of a nuclear arsenal to denigrate the role of the judiciary in exercising its constitutionally mandated role of judicial review. This was not expected from a person holding the second-highest post in the country. I could understand that he and the government might be deeply aggrieved by the Supreme Court’s verdict, but his language should have been more nuanced and civilised. He should not forget that, being the Vice President of the country, it is also his responsibility to not allow the dignity of the Supreme Court to be undermined, tarnished, and discredited.

There has been an attempt on behalf of the constitutional functionaries related to the government to prove that the Parliament is sovereign and that the judiciary has........

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