A day after his scathing verbal attack on the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday sparked a fresh controversy through an online argument with former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi over the contentious Waqf Amendment Act where he called the former CEC a 'Muslim Commissioner'.
Quraishi served as India's 17th Chief Election Commissioner from July 30, 2010, to June 10, 2012.
The BJP MP in his X post accused Quraishi of being "not an Election Commissioner, but a Muslim Commissioner" while claiming that the maximum number of Bangladeshi infiltrators were issued voter IDs in Jharkhand라이브 바카라 Santhal Pargana division during his tenure.
"You were not an election commissioner, you were a Muslim commissioner. The maximum number of Bangladeshi infiltrators were made voters in Jharkhand's Santhalpargana during your tenure...", Dubey's X post read.
Dubey's remarks came in response to a post by Quraishi on X, where the former CEC said, "The Waqf Act is undoubtedly a blatantly sinister/evil plan of the government to grab Muslim lands. I'm sure the SC will call it out. Misinformation by the mischievous propaganda machine has done its job well."
Continuing the attack on the minority community, Dubey wrote, "Prophet Muhammad's Islam came to India in 712, before that this land belonged to Hindus or tribals, Jains or Buddhists associated with that faith. My village Vikramshila was burnt by Bakhtiar Khilji in 1189, Vikramshila University gave the world its first vice chancellor in the form of Atish Dipankar. Unite this country, read history, Pakistan was created by dividing it, will there be no partition now?"
Dubey's Verbal Attack On SC
Launching a scathing attack on the Supreme Court, fourth-term BJP MP from Godda in Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey on Saturday said that the Parliament and State Assemblies should be closed down if the apex court has to make the laws.
Alleging that the top court was going beyond its powers, he said that the court is striking down laws passed by Parliament and even directing the President, who appoints Supreme Court judges.
Dubey's verbal attack targeting the country's top court came following the Centre's assurance to the court that it would not be implementing some of the contentious provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act till the next day of hearing after the court raised questions over them.
"Supreme Court is responsible for inciting religious wars in the country. The Supreme Court is going beyond its limits. If one has to go to the Supreme Court for everything, then Parliament and State Assembly should be shut" ANI quoted Dubey as saying.
Citing Article 368 of the Constitution, the senior BJP leader said that law-making is the job of Parliament, and the Supreme Court is meant to interpret the laws. The court can order the government but not Parliament, he asserted.
According to PTI, Dubey appeared to question the court's critical observations on the Act's dilution of the "Waqf by use" provision, saying it has sought documentary proof in cases involving temples, including Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, but has chosen to ignore the similar need in the ongoing case.
Besides the current developments on Waqf Act, Dubey also pointed to past rulings of the Supreme Court like the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the scrapping of Section 66(A) of the IT Act as examples of its "overreach".
The BJP on Saturday distanced itself from Dubey's controversial remarks against the top court and the CJI. Party president J P Nadda in a post on X said, "The BJP has nothing to do with the comments of MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the Chief Justice of India. This is their personal comments, but the BJP neither agrees with them nor does it ever support such remarks. The BJP absolutely rejects them."
BJP MP Dinesh Sharma, who served as the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2017 to 2022, on Saturday also criticised the top court, saying no one can direct Parliament or the President.
BJP Distances Itself From Dubey's SC Remarks
The Bharatiya Janata Party has distanced itself from the controversial remarks made by its MP Nishikant Dubey. Dubey on Sunday, lashed out at the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna questioned key aspects of the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025.
Speaking to reporters, BJP National President and Union Health Minister JP Nadda stated that the party does not support these statements and dismissed them as personal statements.
"BJP neither agrees with such statements nor does it ever support such statements. BJP completely rejects these statements," said Nadda.
