Supreme Court exercising 'unlimited powers', will become third chamber of Parliament: Attorney General

Attorney General KK Venugopal on Saturday criticised the Supreme Court for using constitutional morality, which he thinks is a “very dangerous weapon”, to test validity of laws made by the Legislature and said that the top court was exercising “unlimited powers” by treating the Article 142 of the Constitution as Kamadhenu - a miraculous cow who provides her owner whatever he desires.

“Article 142 merely permitted the Court to pass such decree or make such order as to do complete justice in any cause or matter pending before the court…But the Article was treated as a Kamadhenu from which unlimited powers flowed to the apex court of the country,” Venugopal said while addressing a keynote address at the Second JB Dadachanji Memorial Debate in the national capital.

The Attorney General said that if this doesn’t stop, first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s fear of the Supreme Court becoming the “third chamber of Parliament” will come true.

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"Use of constitutional morality can be very-very dangerous and we can't be sure where it will lead us to. I hope constitutional morality dies soon. Otherwise, our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's fear that the Supreme Court will become the third chamber (of Parliament) might come true," he said.

Referring to the five-judge constitution bench verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala Temple, the Attorney General said that the Supreme Court should be very careful while interfering in religious beliefs, he said.

Earlier, Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, one of the four judges who held the unprecedented press conference against former CJI Dipak Misra, who spoke before Venugopal’s criticism, said that the people of the country were bound to move the top court if Parliament failed to enact laws the needed.

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"Judicial review is being used only in case of the inaction of legislature and executive,” Lokur said. The Attorney General, however, said that it was not correct for the top court to believe that the country is doomed if it doesn’t intervene.

“For the court to believe that unless it interferes, the country is doomed is not correct," the Attorney General added.