Rajya Sabha chairman convenes meeting with Nadda, Kharge to discuss NJAC issue

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has convened a meeting with Leader of the House J P Nadda and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday to hold a structured discussion on the issue of judicial accountability and the NJAC Act.

The chairman has written to both Nadda and Kharge for a meeting in his chamber at 11.30 am, a source said.

The meeting is with reference to the observations made by the House chairman on March 21, in response to the points raised by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over the recovery of cash from the residence of a high court judge.

Chairman Dhankhar had on March 21 referred to the mechanism for judicial appointments after the passage of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act in 2014. The legislation was struck down by the Supreme Court later.

On March 21, Dhankhar told the Rajya Sabha, "You all will recollect the mechanism which was passed by this House with near unanimity, with no dissension, only one abstention in the Rajya Sabha, all political parties converging and going in for the initiative of the government."

"I wish to find out the status of that which emanated from Indian Parliament made sacrosanct by the endorsement of 16 state assemblies in the country and signed by the Hon'ble President under article 111 of the Constitution," he had said.

"That historic legislation endorsed by this Parliament with unprecedented consensual support unknown to the parliamentary history of this country dealt with the malaise very severely. If the malaise had been dealt with perhaps we would not have countenanced such kind of issues. What bothers me is that the incident happened and did not immediately surface," the chairman had further observed.

Dhankhar had further said that he would "get in touch with the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition, and find a mechanism for a structured discussion during the course of the session subject to their agreement."