Supreme Court hijacked Constitution

New Delhi: Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on Sunday cited the views of a retired high court judge, who said the Supreme Court 'hijacked' the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself amid ongoing debate over the collegium system of appointing judges.

Sharing the video of an interview of Justice R S Sodhi (retd), a former judge of the Delhi Court, on Twitter, Rijiju wrote: "elected representatives represent the interests of the People & make laws. Our Judiciary is independent, and our Constitution is Supreme."

Justice Sodhi, in the interview to LawStreet Bharat, said the right to frame laws lies with Parliament. He also said the apex court cannot frame laws as it does not have the right to do so. "The right to frame laws belongs to Parliament," he said.

"… Whether you can amend the Constitution? Only Parliament will amend Constitution. But here I feel the Supreme Court for the first time 'hijacked' the Constitution. After 'hijacking' they (SC) said that we will appoint (judges) ourselves and the government will have no role in it," Justice Sodhi said in Hindi.

Referring to Justice Sodhi's remarks, the minister in a tweet wrote a "majority" of people have "similar sane views". "It's only those people who disregard the provisions of the Constitution and mandate of the people think that they are above the Constitution of India," he wrote.

The remark is the latest in the flashpoint between the executive and judiciary over the issue concerning the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary.