Executive, Legislature and Judiciary not pitted against each other: Jagdeep Dhankhar 

Rajya Sabha Chairman emphasizes cooperation between Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary for effective functioning, addressing judicial appointments issue.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Wednesday (March 26, 2025) that Executive, Legislature and Judiciary were not pitted against each other and they had to function in tandem. His latest remarks come a day after he chaired the meeting of floor leaders of the Upper House to weigh in on recovery of semi-burnt Indian currency notes at the official residence of Delhi High Court Judge Justice Yashwant Varma. 

The meeting, sources said, was an effort to build the ground for another parliamentary intervention into judicial appointments after the unsuccessful attempt of bringing in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, which was cleared by Parliament and ratified by 16 State Assemblies only to be struck down by the Supreme Court in October 2015. 

Mr. Dhankhar described the meeting as a “fruitful interaction”. Without going into the details of the meeting, he said the issue was not between institutions. “It is not that the Executive, Legislature, or Judiciary are pitted against each other. All the institutions in the country have to function in tandem, in togetherness and also there are checks and balances which are well meant,” Mr. Dhankhar said during the Zero Hour in the Upper House. 

He informed the House that it was decided at the meeting that all floor leaders would consult their respective parties and then come back for further deliberations with him. 

Speaking in the House on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) he had commented that “things would have been different” if the mechanism for judicial appointments — referring to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) — had not been struck down by the Supreme Court.