Dhankhar says courts don't run country

RAJYA Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday asserted that the government is the "ultimate" authority, emphasising that governance in a democracy must rest solely with the executive rather than the judiciary, as the former is accountable to Parliament and the electorate.

- RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi

Dhankhar made these remarks during Question Hour after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan referenced Supreme Court directives while responding to a demand from DMK MP Kanimozhi NVN Somu to decentralise the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The DMK MP questioned why the government could not "restrict tests for entry towards its institutions and decentralise where states fill up based on marks scored in state board exams". Pradhan pointed out that the UPA government had introduced the centralised examination system and that the Supreme Court had issued directives supporting the centralised structure of the medical entrance test.