NEW DELHI: A day after vice president and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla made strong observations about “judicial overstep” in legislative affairs, presiding officers from across the country, in a resolution asserting “primacy of the people of India” in lawmaking through the legislative bodies.
A resolution adopted by the presiding officers of the two Houses of Parliament and all the state legislatures emphasised the separation of powers provided for in the Constitution and said all the organs needed to respect the boundaries earmarked for them. In its resolution, the 83rd All-India Presiding Officers’ Conference (AIPOC) reposed confidence in the principle of separation of powers and exhorted all organs of the State to respect their boundaries as enshrined in the Constitution.
“The legislature should be solely responsible for lawmaking. We have high regard for the judiciary and we expect that the judiciary will stick to the constitutional boundaries and precedents,” said the Lok Sabha Speaker after the two-day conference.
The contention was endorsed by Rajasthan Speaker CP Joshi, a Congress leader and former Union minister. Joshi said the Constitution is unambiguous in stating that the legislature is the only lawmaking authority and judiciary has no role, except for scrutiny.
Birla said the message from the conference is that all three organs —executive, legislature and judiciary — are independent and have equal stature but the legislature is supreme in framing laws and judiciary has the right to only review laws.
He denied that the deliberations were marked by an excssive focus on judiciary, saying that a message has been sent out to all the constitutional bodies that the mandate of the people should be accorded supremacy. “However, we must avoid confrontation and respect each other’s independence,” he added.
Birla also regretted the flooding of courts by PILs, suggesting that the courts should be sensitive about the laws, passed by legislative bodies with a consensus.
The resolution also acknowledged the significance of seeking answers from the government to questions of members of legislative bodies as a time-tested instrument for enforcing executive accountability. The presiding officers called upon all political parties to build consensus against any disruption in the Houses of the legislature, particularly during the Question Hour.
The conference passed a resolution that rules of procedure and conduct of the business of legislative bodies be reviewed comprehensively and model uniform rules be formulated incorporating best practices and that a Code of Conduct for members be introduced in the rules for bringing about an effective check against indecorous and unparliamentary conduct.
Watch Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla says executive, legislature and judiciary should work in harmony
A resolution adopted by the presiding officers of the two Houses of Parliament and all the state legislatures emphasised the separation of powers provided for in the Constitution and said all the organs needed to respect the boundaries earmarked for them. In its resolution, the 83rd All-India Presiding Officers’ Conference (AIPOC) reposed confidence in the principle of separation of powers and exhorted all organs of the State to respect their boundaries as enshrined in the Constitution.
“The legislature should be solely responsible for lawmaking. We have high regard for the judiciary and we expect that the judiciary will stick to the constitutional boundaries and precedents,” said the Lok Sabha Speaker after the two-day conference.
The contention was endorsed by Rajasthan Speaker CP Joshi, a Congress leader and former Union minister. Joshi said the Constitution is unambiguous in stating that the legislature is the only lawmaking authority and judiciary has no role, except for scrutiny.
Birla said the message from the conference is that all three organs —executive, legislature and judiciary — are independent and have equal stature but the legislature is supreme in framing laws and judiciary has the right to only review laws.
He denied that the deliberations were marked by an excssive focus on judiciary, saying that a message has been sent out to all the constitutional bodies that the mandate of the people should be accorded supremacy. “However, we must avoid confrontation and respect each other’s independence,” he added.
Birla also regretted the flooding of courts by PILs, suggesting that the courts should be sensitive about the laws, passed by legislative bodies with a consensus.
The resolution also acknowledged the significance of seeking answers from the government to questions of members of legislative bodies as a time-tested instrument for enforcing executive accountability. The presiding officers called upon all political parties to build consensus against any disruption in the Houses of the legislature, particularly during the Question Hour.
The conference passed a resolution that rules of procedure and conduct of the business of legislative bodies be reviewed comprehensively and model uniform rules be formulated incorporating best practices and that a Code of Conduct for members be introduced in the rules for bringing about an effective check against indecorous and unparliamentary conduct.
Watch Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla says executive, legislature and judiciary should work in harmony
