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Synopsis

“The State owes no devotion to any particular religion, and the Constitution requires that the country's religious majority not to be given preferential treatment,” Justice BV Nagarathna said at an event of the launch of the Book.

The Supreme Court Judge reflected her views on the basic essential values in the constitution and their relevancy in today’s world, at an event of the book launch in Bengaluru.

She was speaking at the launch of the book titled “Constitutional Ideals” organised by DAKSH which is a leading think tank and research institution focused on law and justice system reforms and access to justice, which highlights the evolving constitutional jurisprudence on the concepts of individual and collective rights, and their deprivation and balancing by courts, in its new book Constitutional Ideals: Development and Realisation Through Court-led Justice.

While speaking at the event, Justice Nagarathna also said that unlike in the West, secularism in India was never created out of a struggle between the State and the Church. "Perhaps it was rooted in India's own past history and culture, and was a response to her pluralism," she said.

The goal of fundamental responsibilities is to develop "ideal citizenship”. However, lack of integrity and possession of ill-gotten money has become the norm of the day. According to Justice Nagarathna, who also noted that disproportionate assets are rarely viewed as black marks in today's times,

“The essence of fundamental duties is to achieve ideal citizenship. It’s not just the relationship between the citizen and the state and the duties of a citizen to the state, it also encompasses the duties of one citizen to another. For this, we need to cherish and practise the values of the Indian Constitution. Among the constitutional values, integrity is the highest. But alas! With the passing of every year, integrity is losing its value in our total value system. Bribery, corruption and flaunting of ill-gotten wealth have become the order of the day and have been entrenched in Indian society. Disproportionate assets possessed by certain persons, especially by those in public life are hardly thought of as blackmarks in our Indian society".

Further, she also highlighted that the term "affordability" has lost its significance in today's world. People used to think twice about spending money on pleasures or material comforts, but that is no longer the case, she said.

"While we can see that the country has grown economically and people are earning more money, disproportionate assets are a major source of concern. That is income from sources other than known ones. We can make economic and social growth as a country, claim to be good citizens, and have a magnificent Constitution. But what is it at the end if we lack integrity?" said Justice Nagarathna

She also said that the family members of bribe-accepting public workers never reacted. "I am curious why no one from the family of public servants who is engaging in bribery and corruption is protesting!" she stated.

Given this, she believes it is time for citizens to pledge to refrain from engaging in such acts, regardless of the temptations on the other side.

While speaking on ‘Liberty’ she stated that the Supreme Court initially did not follow the spirit of Chapter III, but this changed after a few decades.

"The judicial balance was not entirely in favour of the spirit underlying Chapter III. However, in subsequent decades, the Supreme Court and Indian courts have interpreted Chapter III in such a way that it has expanded, particularly Articles 14 and 21, to include rights of the greatest amplitude such as the right to bodily integrity, the right to die with dignity, the right to reproductive choice, the right to self-identification of gender, and the right to privacy," said the judge.

While concluding her address, she said, “Fraternity will help deepen democratic values despite our religious, linguistic and other differences”.