The sudden exit of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar has come as a surprise for political circles with many speculating about the reasons behind his resignation. He had two years before his term was to end in August, 2027.
In his eight-paragraph resignation letter sent to President Droupadi Murmu at around 9.20 pm on Monday, Dhankhar has written: “To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as Vice-President of India, effective immediately, in accordance with Article 67(a) of the Constitution.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday tweeted on X: “Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India. Wishing him good health.”
Dhankhar underwent a cardiac procedure at AIIMS in March this year after he complained of uneasiness. On June 25, he fainted while delivering a speech in Nainital. On Monday, he appeared to be cool while presiding over the Rajya Sabha proceedings till 4:30 pm. Dhankhar had a meeting with opposition leaders on Monday at 6 pm. Two hours later he called on President Murmu in an unscheduled meeting to tender his resignation.
Though Dhankhar cited health as the reason for his exit, there are few takers for this theory. Some say, he could have sent his resignation on health grounds earlier too, but why did he choose the first day of Monsoon session?
Speculations are rife about the real reason behind his exit. There are reports that the top leadership in the government was not satisfied with his style of working and Dhankhar was unwilling to change his stance. He had been openly expressing his opinion on almost every major topic. He did not even desist from making political remarks. He had been consistently saying about the ‘supremacy of Parliament’ vis-à-vis the judiciary, particularly after the cash recovery incident.
On Monday, Dhankhar had accepted a notice from opposition members for a motion to remove Justice Yashwant Varma, who was transferred from Delhi HC to Allahabad HC, after a massive cash recovery at his residence in Delhi. As Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar accepted the notice and asked the secretary general of Rajya Sabha to take necessary steps.
Apart from this, Dhankhar had been making acerbic remarks against some opposition leaders inside the House and this was not taken well in political circles.
A perception was building among the public that whatever remarks Dhankhar was making, was at the behest of the government. This was not acceptable to the government. It did not want such a perception to be built. Dhankhar was unwilling to listen to advice, and finally he gave his resignation.
Dhankhar is not a person who can keep his views close to his chest. Sooner or later, he will himself reveal the real reasons behind his exit.
Nobody killed 189 people in Mumbai
Bombay High Court on Monday quashed the conviction of all 12 accused found guilty nearly 10 years ago for the serial train blasts that took place in 2006 killing 189 and injuring 824 people in a matter of six minutes.
The special bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak severely criticized the prosecution for the ham-handed way in which the probe was conducted. The High Court refused to confirm the death sentence given to five convicts and life imprisonment sentence given to seven others by the special court. The High Court acquitted all the twelve while directing their immediate release.
Maharashtra ATS had conducted the inquiry. In 2015, a Special TADA court of Mumbai had given death sentence to Faisal Sheikh, Kamal Ansari, Ahtesham Siddiqui and Naveed Khan (the fifth died during appeal). Seven convicts, Muhammad Sajid Ansari, Amuhammad Ali, Dr Tanveer Ansari, Majid Shafi, Muzammil Sheikh, Sohail Sheikh and Zameer Sheikh, who were given life terms, were acquitted.
In its judgement, the High Court said, “confessions obtained from accused by ATS are unreliable and inadmissible”. The High Court went through 44,000 pages of documents and delivered the judgement, saying the reliability of prosecution witnesses was questionable.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, the state government would appeal against the HC verdict in Supreme Court.
It is a painful truth that 189 innocent people lost their lives and more than 800 people were injured because of the serial train blasts. The scary visuals of that day still remain etched in the memory of people living in Mumbai.
It is sad that even after 19 years, there is no answer to the question: Who carried out those blasts? Who are responsible for the death of more than 180 people? If those who were acquitted today were innocent, then why were they kept in jails for 18 years?
This is gross incompetence on part of our investigation agencies. The contrasts in the judgements of the trial court and High Court are shocking.
The trial court considered statements of prosecution witnesses as correct, but the High Court rejected them.
The prosecution provided concrete evidence about the RDX used for the blasts. This was accepted by the trial court, but the High Court refused to accept them as admissible evidence.
The trial court found the confessional statements of the accused as admissible, but the High Court said, the accused were tortured to extract confessions and hence the statements are inadmissible.
One must ponder why the trial court and high court completely differed as far as confessional statements, evidences and witnesses’ statements are concerned.
How can it be that the 12 accused persons who were convicted by the trial court 10 years ago, have now been given a clean chit by the High Court, and all statements and evidences produced by the prosecution were thrown into the waste basket?
What reply will the nation give to the families of those innocent people who were killed in the blasts?
The matter will now go to the Supreme Court and the matter will remain in limbo for another few years. It is a matter of shame that nobody knows who is guilty for the death of 189 innocent people.