Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, who is known to take up cases in support of Muslim causes and against BJP and PM Modi, today alleged that the judiciary is compromised just because in select few cases, court judgements went in favour of Hindus or Narendra Modi. He made the comments while speaking on ‘Basic Structure Of Indian Constitution And The Present Day Challenges’ in Kochi at an event organised by Ernakulam Govt Law College Old Students and Teachers Association.
In his speech, Dushyant Dave talked against the system of the party winning a majority in elections ruling the country, alleging that a majority party might destroy the constitution using its powers. While over 100 amendments to the constitution have been done by the parliament, the senior advocate suggested that it should be stopped now, given that it is unlikely that Congress will come to power soon.
“I consider the constitution as sacred as the Bible, Quran or the Gita. So should it be amended?” he asked, suggesting that just like religious texts, the constitution of India should also be fixed. He added that amendments to the constitution should be done only after a referendum. It is notable that the constitution of India itself was adopted by the Constituent Assembly without any referendum, but now Dave is seeking referendum for amendments.
Dave: I consider the constitution as sacred as the Bible, Quran or the Gita. So should it be amended?
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 11, 2023
“Majoritarian parties be it under Indira Gandhi or under Modi can pass any law by using brute majority,” he added, calling for restricting the power of parliament to pass laws.
While the judiciary is being accused of overstepping on the domains of the executive and legislative, Dave defended the court’s activism, saying that judicial review is a part of the basic structure of the constitution, along with fundamental rights and other basic features.
He then went on to launch an attack on Narendra Modi, alleging that he wants to kill multi-party democracy. “PM Modi said he wants Congress mukt Bharat. What they want is an opposition mukt Dharat,” he alleged, completely misinterpreting what PM Modi means by Congress-mukt Bharat.
“We have democracy in form but not in substance. Look at targeted attacks on critics, even stand up comedians, minorities,” he continued, repeating the lies often repeated by the left liberal ecosystem. While it is non-NDA governments in West Bengal, Kerala and earlier in Maharashtra were leading the attacks on freedom of speech, Dave chose to blame the Modi government for the same. Not just that, he even claimed that Kerala is an exemption in this regard.
He then said that the parliament should not be allowed to amend the constitution. “If politicians are allowed to amend the Constitution as suited to their interests against the people, then ‘We The People’ cannot survive,” he claimed. “Constitutional principles must remain intact, political parties cannot be allowed to do whatever they want to do,” Dave further added.
Talking against legal actions against gangsters and mafia, he said that “constitutional methods are being used to destroy the constitution.”
He then mentioned few landmark judgements in recent past which went in favour of Hindus and BJP, and used to accuse the judiciary of being compromised. “Under CJI Gogoi, the government was given judgements after judgments in its favour Rafale, Ayodhya, CBI, in an attempt to cover up his sexual harrasment allegations,” he alleged.
Question: Do you not think the judiciary failed us in the last few year?
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 11, 2023
Dave : Under CJI Gogoi, the government was given judgements after judgments in its favour Rafale, Ayodhya, CBI, in an attempt to cover up his sexual harrasment allegations.
Dushyant Dave said that while the government is not favour of the collegium system for the appointment of judges, there is no other suitable system to ensure the independence of judiciary. However, then he went to add that “the collegium members are themselves influenced by certain political ideologies.”
He then suggested that judges should be prohibited from taking up positions after retirement to prevent biases from judges. “Justice Nazeer being made Governor is a clear case of quid pro quo,” he alleged, referring to the recent appointment of former Karnataka High Court Judge retired Justice Abdul Nazeer as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
