New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Attorney General R Venkataramani on Tuesday said restrictions that stifled or discriminated against the rights and liberties of people were an anathema to an “enduring” Constitution.
He was speaking at the Constitution Day function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
“We the people of India have a duty to ensure that the Constitution endures, and only an enduring Constitution, can script ordered liberty,” Venkataramani said.
“(The concept of) both rights and liberties running riot or restrictions (on rights and liberties), which stifle or discriminate are anathema to an enduring constitution,” he added.
The Attorney General said the endurance of the Constitution was because of a “holy alliance” between the people, the institutions of governance and the institution of justice.
He said the call of the legal profession was to serve the alliance.
Underlining that Constitution Day was a day for stocktaking and an occasion for engagement on future road maps, Venkataramani said all citizens “being custodians of the great and perennial values of Bharat” were also custodians of the Constitution.
“The question, however, would always be, how faithful are we in our roles as custodians? How accommodative are we in bridging and narrowing the social gaps which require and deserve elevated levels of resolutions? How inclined are we to astutely avoid wasteful and distorting social conversations which can debilitate our social fabric?” he said.
“All these questions are questions of being custodians of the Constitution,” Venkataramani added.
He said the Constitution was not merely a document that codified public and private power but symbolised the “values of sharing all the common resources and the commonwealth of the nation through an orderly process.” The Attorney General quoted a letter by Swami Vivekananda of August 1875 where he wrote, “Neither numbers nor powers, nor wealth, nor learning, nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail but purity, living the life in one word, ‘Anubhuti’ or realisation.” Venkataramani said, “He (Vivekananda) went on to say that he who pours water at the root, does he not water the whole tree? As we talk about celebrating 73 years of our Constitution, we are talking about pouring water with care and attention at the root, which is a constitution, and about flourishing the whole nation, which is a tree.” He, however, said there was a long road ahead for the complete realisation of the constitutional goals.
“India stands tall today in the global scene, socially, politically and economically, with calibrated achievement in many fields, and the credit must go to the wide range of players in governance,” the Attorney General said.
“I suppose that faith in constitutional governance has made that possible,” he added.
Quoting a conversation between Gautam Buddha and one of his disciples, Venkataramani said, “I suppose, on this day that we are talking about the dharma of keeping the Constitution neither too taut nor too slack, but tuneful and fit for working.” He said the country’s justice system was awaiting considerable changes.
“In addition to the three well-meaning legislations that have been enacted, there is a lot more to be done so that the justice needs of the poor and the deprived are met adequately and without delay. The criminal justice system must generate a comfort level, which alone can be an index of a fair and just society,” Venkataramani said.
“Our prison houses will then become places of real correction as the justice system would have done better. Maybe it is time that we seriously think about a National Criminal Justice Administration institution which can produce the kind of results we are talking about,” he added. PTI MNR RHL
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