Outspoken Dhankhar questioned judiciary on overreach, lack of accountability

New Delhi: As vice president, Jagdeep Dhankhar often waded into contentious matters of the day, hogging headlines and setting the agenda. But one area that was at the receiving end of his punches more than others was the Judiciary over a gamut of issues ranging from alleged corruption to its overreach.

In a surprise move, Dhankhar stepped down as the vice president on Monday evening citing health grounds.

The cash discovery row at the official residence of Justice Yashwant Varma here in March had given Dhankhar a fresh handle to target the higher judiciary on the issue of corruption and alleged lack of accountability.

As he questioned the courts and its various decisions, Dhankhar described himself as the "foot soldier" of the Judiciary as he was part of the system as a lawyer.

He also hit out at "forces with pernicious agenda" out to target institutions, including the Judiciary in his public speeches.

In several of his speeches, as vice president, he questioned the Supreme Court for striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act which sought to overturn the present collegium system. He had wondered how the top court could strike down a law passed with near unanimity by both Houses of Parliament.

He had also hit out at MPs for not speaking against the Supreme Court judgment.

He had lamented that there was "no whisper" in Parliament after the Supreme Court struck down the NJAC Act and described it as "too serious an issue".

He had also questioned the Judiciary setting a timeline for the president to take decisions and act as a "super Parliament", saying the Supreme Court cannot fire a "nuclear missile" at democratic forces.

Dhankhar's strong words to the Judiciary came days after the Supreme Court sought to fix a timeline for the president to grant assent to the bills reserved for her consideration by the governor.

"So, we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament and absolutely have no accountability because the law of the land does not apply to them," Dhankhar had said.

After the discovery of half-burnt wads of cash at Justice Varma's residence, he questioned the absence of an FIR in the case and dubbed the three-member in-house committee formed by the then chief justice of India to investigate the case unconstitutional.

He said the panel's findings were without proper investigative tools which a probe agency has.