Dhankhar further remarked, “Democracy thrives not on institutional isolation but in coordinated autonomy. Indisputably, institutions contribute productively and optimally while working in their respective domains. Out of deference, I will not refer to specific instances except to observe that executive governance by the judiciary is frequently noticed and discussed in nearly all quarters… We are a sovereign nation, and our sovereignty resides in the people. The constitution given by the people makes this sovereignty inviolable.”Drawing attention to the concerns related to the organization of the constitution bench, he said, “When I became a parliamentary affairs minister in 1990, there were eight judges.More often than not, all eight judges sat together. When the strength of the Supreme Court was eight judges, under Article 145(3), there was a stipulation that the interpretation of the Constitution would be by a bench of five judges or more.Please note, when this strength was eight, it was five. And the constitution allows the highest court of the land to interpret the constitution. You interpret what is interpretable.In the guise of interpretation, there can be no arrogation of authority. The essence and spirit with which the founding fathers had in mind under Article 145(3) about the Constitution must be respected. If I analyze arithmetically, they were very sure that the interpretation would be by a majority of judges because the strength then was eight. That five stands as it is, and the number is more than fourfold.”
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